








.> ^^^'^ 






^0 a. 



I' "^^^"\ c- \;- 






^'^/. .<\^ 
















, .V * ,'\ 



■0' . 



0^ 



-^/. ^-^^ 



.■,N -vO 






<#^ * 



%^ ^■^;.%^if.^ 



.^^^«fi|;#%^ ,^' 




5 M ■ 



C/. " 8 I \ - \"^ 



^. * 



~~- . \ ' f 












o 



^ 






-;% 



T', 






\V' 



% ^' 










ti^-V 



THE QUEEN'S EMPIRE; 



OR, 



IND AND HER PEARL. 



/ BY 

JOSEPH MOOEE, Jr., F.R.G.S., 

AUTHOR OF " THE EGYPTIAN OBELISKS," AND " OUTLYING EUROPE AND THE NEARER 
ORIENT ;" MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY OF GEOGRAPHY OF PARIS, FELLOW OF THE 
AMERICAN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, MEMBER OF THE ROYAL 
ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF GREAT BRITAIN AND 
IRELAND, MEMBER OF THE SCOTTISH GEO- 
GRAPHICAL SOCIETY, ETC., ETC. 



^ 



ILLUSTRATED WITH FIFTY PHOTOTYPES SELECTED BT 

GEORGE HERBERT WATSON. 



o, igg; 



PHILADELPHIA: 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY. 

LONDON: 15 RUSSELL STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 

1886. 



\ 






Copyright, 1885, by J. B. Lippincott Company. 



■ y\-^g--^'n^ 



mEOTVfi:p.~t.Nfi'R:N i krsiII 






s 

V 



TO 



GEORGE HERBERT WATSON, 

IN REMEMBRANCE OF OUR MEETING TN COLORADO, OUR STRUGGLES WITH FRENCH 

AT BLOIS AND GERMAN AT HANOVER, OUR HAPPY DAYS IN NEW 

YORK AND PHILADELPHIA, AND OUR LONG 

JOURNEY AROUND THE WORLD, 

THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED, 

IN TOKEN OP THE 

FRIENDSHIP OP A LIFE. 



=■>-■ 



PHOTOTYPES BY 
GUTEKUNST, PHILADELPHIA. 



" Where'er I roam, whatever realms to see, 
My heart, untravell'd, fondly turns to thee ; 
Still to my country turns, with ceaseless pain, 
And drags at each remove a lengthemng chain." 



oo:n'tests. 



CHAPTEE I. 

AROUND THE WORLD. 

PAGE 

An Auspicious Meeting — A Covenant — Plans of a Tour — 
Homage to Byron — A Tribute to Dean Stanley — The Een- 
dezvous — Our Life at Blois — Dread News — Starting East- 
ward — A Glimpse of Vienna — Yenice in Brief — On the 
Adriatic — Brindisi — A Chain-Gang — The Fortunes of 
Travel — Landing in Egypt — Motley Alexandria — Inunda- 
tion of the Nile — Cairo from the Citadel — Eoyal Mum- 
mies — ^A Kide to Memphis — At the Pyramids — Along the 
Suez Canal — The Gate of Two Continents 15 

CHAPTEE II. 

ON TROPICAL SEAS. 

Bound for Bagdad — On Board the Steamer — Pilgrims for 
Mecca — Cholera Quarantine — Sinai in the Distance — Heat 
on the Eed Sea — Eoutine on the Ship — Jewelled Nights — 
The Holy Land of the Prophet — Eve's Tomb — Arabian 
Ports — The Gate of Tears — Anchored at Aden — Strange 
People — The Diving Boys — Ostrich Feathers — A Dreary 
Stronghold — Massive Tanks — A Shadow on our Plans — 
Across the Arabian Sea — Death in the Cabin — Committed 
to the Deep — Ashore at Kurrachee — An Indian Bungalow 
— Sacred Alligators — Delay and Doubt — A Serious Disap- 
pointment — Travel in Asiatic Turkey — A Cargo from the 

Persian Gulf— End of the Yoyage 38 

7 



O CONTENTS. 

CHAPTEE III. 

BOMBAY. 

PAOE 

A New World — Novel Vehicles — Saturating Heat — Indian 
Hotel Life — Native Types — Features of the City — The 
Hospital for Animals — A Tropical Market — The Towers of 
Silence — Scavenger Birds — A Parsee Funeral — The Fire- 
Worshippers — Reverence for the Elements — The Hindu 
Burning-Place — A Funeral Pyre — Eeducing a Body — Ad- 
vantages of Cremation — The Snake-Charmer — A Clever 
Juggle — The Caves of Elephanta — A Eock Temple — Gods 
in Stone 58 

CHAPTEE IV. 

ACROSS INDIA BY RAIL. 

Eequisites for Travel — A Eailway Station — Troublesome 
Coolies — Landscape Views — Female Porters — A Bullock 
Cart — Sketch of Surat — The Cotton Interest — Quaint Epi- 
taphs — A Hindu Wedding — Nautch Girls and their Dance 
— Chewing the Betel — Native Salutes — Eeverence for Euro- 
peans — Antipodal Customs — A One-Horse Shay — The Mar- 
tial Eajpoots — A Modem Indian City — Eoyal Palace and 
Stables — Our First Eajah — A Street Picture — Buying 
Curios — The Makers of the Gods — An Elephant Eide — A 
Deserted City — Superstition's Edict 76 

CHAPTEE V. 

CITIES OF THE MOGULS. 

Imperial Delhi — The Mogul Dynasty — Splendors of the Fort 
— The Peacock Throne — Lalla Eookh and her Father — A 
Famous Bazaar — The Cathedral Mosque — A Jain Temple 
— Episode of the Mutiny — A Thrilling Struggle — Old Delhi 



CONTENTS. 9 

PAGE 

— A Wondrous Tower — Sumptuous Kuin — Crescent and 
Cross — A Peep at the Himalayas — Entering the Punjaub 
— The Koh-i-noor — An Indian Jehu — English Homes In 
Lahore — Longing for England — Noor Mahal and her Lover 
— Conquest of the Sikhs— The Shalimar Gardens — An Ele- 
phant Station — Beyond the Kyber Pass — The Golden Tem- 
ple — ^Worship of the Sikhs — Cashmere Shawls — The Eeast 
of Moharram — Agra — Mogul Magnificence — The Pearl 
Mosque — A Transitory Paradise — Akbar the Great and his 
Works — The Crowning Glory of India — An Ideal Creation 
— Dazzling Beauty of the Taj — Love's Altar and Tomb . 96 

CHAPTEE YL 

SCENES OP THE MUTINY. 

Landscape of the Plateau — A Veteran's Tale — Cawnpore — 
Causes of the Mutiny — The English Unprepared — Besieged 
by Sepoys — Desperate Defence — Surrender and Massacre — 
The Satanic Nana — Fiendish Butchery — Tragedy of the 
Well — Avenging Heroes — Stern Eetribution — Eate of Nana 
Sahib — Memorials of Sorrow — Slumbering Disloyalty — The 
Morale of India — Architecture of Lucknow — Outbreak in 
Oudh — The Historic Pesidency — Death of Sir Henry Law- 
rence — The Memorable Siege — Valorous Deeds — Belief and 
Joy — Coming of the Highlanders — Cutting their Way — 
Victory and Peace — A Knightly Soldier — Life's Work 
Well Done — In Memoriam 130 

CHAPTEE YII. 

HOLT PLACES OP THE HINDUS. 

The City of God — A General Centre — Festival of the Mela — 
Habits of the Fakirs — A Sceptical Lion — The Tree of 
Knowledge — American Missionaries — Three Sacred Places 



10 CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

— Entering the Holy City — Sanctity of Benares — India in 
Profile — Street Scenes — The Great Temple — Consecrated 
Bulls — Linga Stones — The Brahmins — Hindu Deities — 
Pagan Eites— Profitable Idols— The Well of Pate— An 
Obscene Shrine — The Monkey Temple — Sacrifice of a Goat 
— The Stay of Hinduism — Its Four Castes — Brahmin 
Power — A Devout Maharajah — Visiting in State — A 
Prince's Hospitality — The Buddhist Holy Land — Bathing 
in the Ganges — A Striking Picture — The Burning Ghaut 
— Outward Piety — A False Eeligion — Venality of the 
Priests — An Essay by Brahmins — They Defend their Faith 
— The Opposite View — A Voice from the Zenana Mission 
—Blind Faith 152 

CHAPTEE yill. 

THE INDIAN CAPITAL. 

Across Bengal — Tigers and Thugs — Puny Bengalees — Pov- 
erty in a Eich Country — Expensive Government — The City 
of Palaces — A Calcutta Hotel — Our First Earthquake — The 
Aristocratic Quarter — An Evening Drive — The Black Hole 
— Palms and Banyans — The Temple of Kali — A Bought 
Sacrifice — Brahmin Degradation — The Native Quarter — A 
Maharajah's Palace — Educating the Natives — The Most 
Promising Path — Zenana Missions — A Woman's Work — 
Converts in Church — The Viceroy's Court — Social Gaye- 
ties 189 

CHAPTEE IX. 

IN THE HIMALAYAS. 

Seeing the Hills — Journeying Northward — Over the Ganges 
— A Miniature Eailway — Home of the Tiger — Ascending 
the Mountains — A Prospect of Grandeur — Novelty of Cold 
— The Loop — Frightened Pigs — New Faces — Ferns and 



CONTENTS. 11 

FAOG 

Oaks — Equal to any Feat — A Lofty Village — Prayer Flags 
— Dangerous Curves — Picturesque Darjeeling — Our Damsel 
Porters — Persistent Clouds — Market Day — Himalayan 
Tribes — Portrait of a Bhotea — Conjugal Kelations — The 
Lamas — A Praying Machine — The Jewel is in the Lotus — 
Pagan Ceremonies — Mongolian Types — The Warlike Ghor- 
kas — An Afternoon's Tramp — A Tea Plantation — Pruning 
the Yines — Preparing the Leaves — Green and Black Tea — 
Growth of the Plant — A Cloudless Morning — The Eoof of 
the "World — An Early Eide — A Hiding Cloud— On Mount 
Senchal — A Sublime Panorama — The Pinnacle of the 
Earth — Holiest of Communions 202 

CHAPTEE X. 

THE MADRAS PRESIDENCY. 

Adieu to the Abode of Snow — Embarking at Calcutta — In 
the Hoogly — A Gorgeous Pilot — Our Rash Passenger — The 
Car of Juggernaut — Along the Coast — A Eace against the 
Sun — An Appeal for Welcome — The Madras Surf — An 
Abortive Breakwater — A Boat without Nails — Eiding the 
Breakers — Outline of Madras — A Familiar ISIame — Lack 
of Attractions — An Oppressive Climate — Great Eock Tem- 
ples — Sculptured Pagodas — The Dravidian Family . . . 222 

CHAPTEE XI. 

CEYLON, THE PEARL. 

A Catamaran — An Amphibious Creature — Sighting the 
Island — A Double Canoe — View in the Harbor — Intense 
Heat — The Effeminate Singalese — Shops of the Moormen 
— Point de Galle — Luxuriant Beauty — Cinnamon — Her 
Majesty's Mail Stage — The Southern Cross — A Dashing 
Pace — Eosy Dawn — A Wealth of Nature — Twenty Mil- 
lion Palms — Betel-Chewing Etiquette — In and Around 



12 CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Colombo — Tortoise-shell and Gems — Coffee-Curing — Pearl- 
Fishing — Diving for the Mollusks — Precarious Profits — 
Kailway to the Interior — Prolific Vegetation — A Myth of 
Adam — The Coflee Belt— Dr. Holmes's Breadfruit— Uses 
of the Cocoanut Palm — The Highland Capital — A Sanita- 
rium — Kuins of Ancient Cities — The World's Oldest Tree 
— An Exalted Shrine — The Buddhist Scriptures — A Golden 
Idol — Man's Puture State — The Inner Sanctuary — A Mo- 
mentous Kelic— History of the Tooth — Five Hundred Mil- 
lion Worshippers 231 

CHAPTEE XII. 

RARE EXPERIENCES. 

Kandy in Gala Dress — The Young Princes of Wales — Their 
Arrival and Reception — The Feast of the Perahara — Elab- 
orate Preparations — Orgie of the Coffee-Planters — The 
Great Procession — A Weird Spectacle — Antics of the Devil 
Dancers — Native Chiefs — Elephants and Oriental Trap- 
pings — An Elephant Hunt for the Princes — Arrangements 
to Participate — Start from Colombo — Night on the Eoad — 
A Wayside Eest-house — An Outpost of the Camp — Afoot 
in the Jungle — Our Palm Huts — Evanescent Kraaltown — 
Locality of the Hunt — Construction of the Corral — Strata- 
gem against Strength — A Cordon of Beaters — Watching 
the Game — An Unwonted Grouping — Night in the Camp 
— ^A Cobra Alarm — Docile Monsters — Uses of the Ele- 
phant — In Full Cry — At Bay in the Jungle — Man against 
Brute — A Native Crushed — TheDrive-In — Infuriated Cap- 
tives — A Premature Movement — Failure, Delay, and Suc- 
cess — Twelve in the Toils — Trained Elephants to the Front 
— Charge and Eepulse — A Cow Noosed — Her Struggles 
and Death — Dragging and Tying a Victim — Two Orphan 
Calves — A Cowardly Tusker — Disposing of the Prizes — 
Eastward to the Golden West 267 



LIST OF ILLUSTEATIOE'S. 



PAGE 

Festival of the Perahara Frontispiece. 

Map of India and Ceylon 15 

Blois, from the Chateau 18 

The Graben, Vienna 22 

In the Suez Canal 36 

The English Stronghold of Aden 46 

A Street in Bombay 58 

The New Quarter of Bombay 62 

A Parsee Family 66 

A Hindu Burning-Place 70 

Snake-Charmers 72 

The Caves of Elephanta 74 

An Indian Equipage 30 

A Sweetmeat-Shop of Surat 82 

Nautch Girls 86 

"Wind Palace and Bazaar, Jeypore 90 

The Deserted City of Ambher 94 

Hall of Private Audience, Delhi 98 

The Great Bazaar of Delhi 100 

The Jumna Mosque, Delhi 102 

The Kootub Minar, Old Delhi 104 

Kuins of Old Delhi 106 

Lahore, Capital of the Punjaub 112 

The Golden Temple, Umritsur 116 

Exterior of the Agra Fort 120 

Akbar's Palace, Agra 122 

The Taj Mahal, from the Garden 124 

The Taj Mahal, from the Terrace 128 

Scene of the Massacre, Cawnpore 136 

2 13 



14 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

Entrance to the Bazaar, Lucknow 144 

Gate of the Kaiser Bagh, Lucknow 148 

Eemains of tha Presidency, Lucknow 150 

Favorites of the Zenana 158 

Quadrangle of the Golden Temple, Benares 162 

The Monkey Temple, Benares 168 

Tower at Sarnath, Buddhist Holy Laud 172 

The Burning Ghaut, on the Ganges, Benares 178 

Types of Indian Servants 190 

The Principal Street of Calcutta 194 

ISTative Boats at Kalighat, Calcutta 198 

A Hill Sanitarium 204 

Palace and Temples of a Himalayan Village 210 

A Tea Plantation, Darjeeling 216 

Kanchinjanga, the World's Second Mountain 220 

Business Quarter of Madras, Avith the Mole ....... 226 

Pagade of a Dravidian Temple, Trichinopoly 230 

Temple of the Sacred Tooth, Kandy 250 

Group of Singalese Chiefs, Kandy 258 

Entrance to the Kraal 266 

Plan of the Kraal 268 

Elephants Handling Timber 272 

Noosing Wild Elephants 278 



> 

^ 



c^ 



'"hizji.je^ 
















Una. 0"^"" .«!. V^'"i^' 




""i,^ 







IJ. 



Bia M IE) us IT AH 



.r 1, I.imM'Tl 1-- 1 HI . !■ 1 



THE QUEEN'S EMPIRE; 

OR, 

USD AIsTD HER PEARL. 



CHAPTER I. 

ABOUND THE WORLD. 

The world thou hast not seen, much less her glory, 
Empires, and monarchs, and their radiant courts, 
Best school of best experience, quickest insight. 
In all things that to greatest actions lead. 

Milton. 

One afternoon in the summer of 1879, while it 

was raining a torrent, I boarded a belated train at 

Colorado Springs, bound for Denver. A wash-out 

had caused a delay of nearly two hours, and the 

chance of further danger made it necessary to run 

much slower than the usual speed. Night came, 

but no supper. As I had eaten nothing since a hasty 

dinner, shortly after noon, I inquired of the con- 

15 



16 AROUND THE WORLD. 

ductor how far it was to the next restaurant station. 
He curtly replied that it would be Denver, about 
midnight. Thereupon I complained roundly, and a 
gentleman occupying a neighboring seat joined in 
the wail. After the conductor had left, a conversa- 
tion with my fellow-passenger followed. The next 
afternoon found us dining together at Denver, and 
on the following day we parted at Cheyenne, — 
pledged to meet again for a tour of the world. 

Almost two years elapsed without sight or word 
of each other, and during that interval both were 
abroad. In the spring of 1881 our plans were 
matured in Kew York. Paris, late in the following 
July, was the rendezvous. 

My previous wanderings had extended from the 
Suez Canal to the Grolden Gate. Embraced in the 
detail were a circuit of the countries bordering on 
the Mediterranean and every state of Europe. ISTow 
I was anxious to see the storied lands and ancient 
civilizations so richly clustered in Asia proper. 

Our proposed course after leaving Em-ope was 
conditionally outlined. First a brief review of 
Lower Egypt. Then a long voyage fi-om Suez to 
Bagdad, ascending the Persian Gulf and the rivers 
Tigris and Euphrates, to trace the ruins of Mneveh 
and Babylon; and possibly, afterward, those of 



THE PROPOSED ROUTE. 17 

Persepolis. Thence to Bombay, to traverse the 
mighty empire which lies south of the Himalayas. 
After we should reach Calcutta, the itinerary would 
be adapted to the requirements of time. As cir- 
cumstances permitted, to include or omit Ceylon, 
Burmah, Java, Siam, Cochin China, and Cambodia. 
Upon" starting northward from Singapore, the ac- 
cepted half-way station, we were to devote a suffi- 
cient period to China and Japan before embarking 
for California. 

If auspicious news from home should greet us 
upon landing at San Francisco, we would undertake 
the Yellowstone Park, the uncompleted ISTorthern 
Pacific Railroad, and the Great Lakes, as a new 
track across the continent. Making this tour solely 
in the interest of education and experience, and by 
no means for pleasure, we anticipated many a weary, 
homesick day. Still we did not despair of those 
bright incidents, genial companionships, and ab- 
sorbing scenes which always reward a traveller, and 
encourage him in his varied task. Some of these 
kaleidoscopic views, as they were realized, we shall 
here attempt to portray by picture and by pen. 

Mindfal of the engagement already stated, early 

in July, 1881, I sailed from !N"ew York. From 

Liverpopl I went directly to ISTottingham, to make 
b 2* 



18 AROUND THE WORLD. 

the oft-deferred pilgrimage to ISTewstead Abbey 
and the little church at Hucknall, to do homage to 
the magnetic genius of the greatest, worst-abused 
poet of this century. A meteoric life with all the 
frailties of youth and passion, yet withal far nobler, 
far more exalted in character and generous in heart 
than those who have sought to defame his dazzling 
memory. 

Thence my path was to London, where I arrived 
just in time to look down the open grave of Arthur 
Penrhyn Stanley, in his own beloved historic Ab- 
bey, — ^England's model churchman and free Chris- 
tian, who believed in that broad Christianity which 
springs from the heart and not from mundane 
forms. 'Next I made a flying trip to the Isle of 
Wight, where, drawn by a tough gray cob in a 
dog-cart, I enjoyed flitting visions of rocky head- 
lands, greenswards, picturesque towns, and break- 
ing surf 

Without further digression I crossed to Paris. 
There, true to appointment, was my companion for 
the long tour; since then the chosen partner of 
many a journey, enterprise, and happy day. After 
a week in the urban Elysium, we went together to 
Blois, and rented a delightfal ch^telet on the bank 
of the Loire, just without the town. Within sight 



■^li 




OUR HOME BY THE LOIRE. 19 

irom our windows was the stately chateau where 
Francis I. lived, the Due de Gruise was murdered, 
and Catherine de Medicis breathed out her wicked 
life. In this quiet retreat we lived two profitable 
months studying French and the East, fishing and 
sailing, and driving to the princely chateaux in the 
vicinity, — Chambord and Beauregard, Chaumont, 
Amboise, and Chenonceaux. 

Like every American — ay, like all mankind — 
we daily awaited with anxiety, now with fear, then 
with hope, the bulletins from the world's patient 
at Washington and Long Branch. "While we were 
preparing to leave Blois, the dreaded message came, 
and we knew that the illustrious sufierer was at rest, 
that our beloved President was dead. We had re- 
ceived a crushing blow; we were plunged into a 
profound sorrow ; our very homes seemed to be in- 
vaded by calamity and death, and the impulse was 
to return at once to stand in the horrible breach, — 
for what ? To grieve with a stricken people, to hang 
out the emblems of mourning, and wonder what 
punishment the assassin could undergo sufficient to 
expiate so execrable a crime. Vain help to replace 
a murdered Garfield! But surely if a sparrow 
cannot fall to the ground without Divine intent, 
what infinite beneficence may be wrought by the 



20 AROUND THE WORLD. 

martyrdom of the purest among tlie leaders of 
men. 

We were glad enough when the October evening 
came upon which our tour was to commence, as we 
had already been delayed a day because the sleep- 
ing-car to Vienna was full, and there was no second 
one in a great terminus like Paris to supply the 
deficiency. As we crossed the Place de 1' Op era, 
bound for the Gare de Strasbourg, and soon after 
rolled away from the brilliant city, we began to 
realize the magnitude of the task ahead. 

What might occur in our homes and country 
while we were beyond the reach of news ! Would 
we both return in health and safety ? What sac- 
rifices were we making by our absence, and how 
great would be the benefits, valuable in after-life, 
to be derived fi-om another year of exile, with its 
monotonous voyages, dusty journeys by rail, and 
the climatic risks of the torrid Orient ? But away 
all doubts ! The train is speeding eastward, and in 
that direction, for once, the star of empire, the 
empire of knowledge and experience, calls us with 
irresistible force. 

When daylight came, the spire of the Strasburg 
Cathedral towered majestically over the plain, as 
we approached the disputed, armed Phine, that 



VIENNESE PLEASURES. 21 

beauteous river which is at once the source of 
plenty and want, joy and sorrow, wine and war, 
life and death. Away we sped through Carlsruhe 
and Stuttgart and Munich, recalling the days when, 
toiling by rail and by river, I traversed the Father- 
land from quaint Liibeck to where the lion guards 
the lake at Lindau, and from Konigsberg, on the 
northeast, to Heidelberg on the southwest. Towards 
midnight we were undergoing the usual visitation 
of luggage on the Austrian frontier, and early the 
next morning we alighted at Vienna. 

As we had a week to spare before the de- 
parture of our steamer from Venice, or ten days 
if we joined her at Brindisi, we decided to go to 
Vienna, because my companion had not yet seen 
that city. Altogether, the visit was a disappoint- 
ment, probably owing to the damp, cold weather 
and the trying comparison with Paris, which we 
had just left, — the one, only Paris of this globe. To 
see Vienna aright, it must be when the world is out 
of doors, drinking the clear, delicious beer and 
reading the little journals before the cafes, on the 
Ringstrasse, in the Graben, the Prater, the Volks- 
garten, and the thousand other spots where the 
pleasure-seeking Viennese love to congregate and 
enjoy life, as they understand it, to its fullest 



22 AROUND THE WORLD. 

measure. It was thus I saw it upon coming down 
from Russia and Poland, after a wearisome period 
of draggy travel ; and then, with its splendid new 
buildings, cheerfiil hotels, sunny parks, and genial 
atmosphere, it seemed, indeed, almost the peer of 
peerless Paris. 

We took the new and more direct route to 
Venice, by Leoben, although it is probably less 
interesting than the other. Unfortunately, a heavy 
fog obscured the scenic glories of the Semmering 
Pass, but we fared better in the Lower Tyrol. 
Again, as the train approached the Italian border 
we ran into a brisk snow-storm, which had whitened 
the villages, covered the road to the depth of an 
inch or more, and draped the foliage with a boreal 
fringe. This was our first glimpse of winter and 
the last, except upon mountain-tops. Our efiiects 
easily passed inspection at the Italian frontier, and 
quite as easily was the alleged dinner disposed of 
which they offered us at the same station, as there 
was so little to eat. We reached Venice towards 
midnight, tired and satiated with thick sandwiches 
and coffee, yet hungry for something rather more 
inviting. 

Silently the two gondoliers plied their oars, 
dipping into the moonlight upon the Grand Canal, 



MUSINGS IN VENICE. 23 

while we, within the sombre hood, mused upon the 
mutations of life, which had brought us again so 
unexpectedly to the city of romance, intrigue, and 
song, — us who, a few years back, had so little pros- 
pect of wandering over the world, seeking out 
travellers' shrines in distant lands. But it is always 
the unexpected that happens, says Mme. de Sevigne, 
and the same charming authority declares that " life 
is too short to halt too long in one frame of mind." 
And our revery speedily gave place to reality as we 
were ushered into rooms in the attic of the leading 
hotel. Venice was fall of tourists. 

The following morning we went afoot to St. 
Mark's Square, a short walk, and renewed our ac- 
quaintance with its many attractions : its alluring 
shops, the clock-tower, the myriad of tame pigeons, 
St. Mark's Tower, the Doge's Palace, " the winged 
Lion's marble piles;" and, lastly, but the greatest 
of all, the wondrous church, with its confusing, yet 
harmonious, unexampled, and striking architecture. 
"Within, the usual motley comers yet linger beneath 
its mosaic domes, — ^humble devotees counting their 
beads and sigh1>seers with the inevitable red books, 
shaven friars and Umberto's officers with clanging 
sabres, artists absorbed in their rich studies and the 
ubiquitous, pestering guides. Later in the day we 



24 AROUND THE WORLD. 

took a gondola and glided slowly beneath the Bridge 
of Sighs and the Rialto, along the Grand Canal to 
its mouth, and before the city fi-ont. In the evening 
we again sauntered around the square, and returned 
content to board our ship, which lay in the harbor, 
the next morning. 

We had originally intended to sail from Brindisi 
for Alexandria, but the prospect of twenty-four 
hours continuous travel by rail along the coast, 
without sleeping-cars, induced us to embrace the 
privilege offered by our tickets to embark from 
Venice. Upon boarding the steamer, the " Banga- 
lore," of the Peninsular and Oriental line, our 
spirits were depressed by the discovery that, in 
addition to a ship no longer modern, we were 
located in a state-room with four berths. The 
Parisian agency, at which we had hurriedly en- 
gaged our passage, cunningly had no plan of the 
cabins to show. We knew the ship wouldjbe en- 
tirely full, as the autumnal hegira to Egypt and 
India had already commenced, and we dreaded the 
possibility of entering warm latitudes, so early in 
the season, with perhaps sea-sick Orientals, how- 
ever exalted their social rank. We were some- 
what relieved upon being told that the bulk of the 
passengers would join the ship at Brindisi, with our 



ALONG THE ITALIAN COAST. 25 

state-room companions among the number ; and so, 
in comparative comfort, we saw St. Mark's Tower 
gradually sink into tlie horizon as the " Bangalore" 
carefully threaded her way through the lagoon and 
out the Lido. 

Our first day upon the Adriatic brought with it 
rather doleful anticipations of the indefinite amount 
of ship-life before us, as the " Bangalore," only 
partly laden, rolled and pitched without respite. 
To add to our discomfort the leaden clouds dashed 
us again and again with heavy showers. Towards 
nine in the evening we sighted the Ancona light, 
and an hour later a myriad of twinkling glimmers 
resolved themselves into the town, — a medley of 
Italian houses climbing the hills from the shore, — 
before which, though scarcely in any harbor, the 
ship anchored until morning. The weather con- 
tinued unfavorable throughout the second day and 
night, but cleared and grew perceptibly warmer 
the next morning, when we ran into the port of 
Brindisi. 

Glad to escape a few hours from the uninviting 
ship and her wretched cuisine, with its cofiee of lye 
and tea of tannin, we took a boat and wer'e rowed 
ashore to the hotel, where we refreshed ourselves 
with a bath and an edible breakfast. There is 



26 AROUND THE WORLD. 

little of interest at Brindisi. Most of the town is 
new and straggling, and the irrepressible cicerones 
about the hotel, as well as the drivers of a few 
dilapidated hacks and scrawny horses, annoy pas- 
sengers throughout their brief stay. The constant 
cry about a traveller's ears is, " I am speak beautiful 
English; you want going at the post," or the "P. 
and 0. bureaus," or, perhaps, " You wish go seen 
Appian Way?" As the ship was to remain until 
early the next morning, we took a front room at 
the hotel, overlooking the harbor, and devoted 
several hours to our correspondence. 

Just as the sun was setting, with all the wondrous 
glow of an Italian sky, a long boat, filled with men 
and propelled by many an oar, slowly approached 
the quay and landed her cargo of wretched human 
freight, guarded by a squad with carbines slung 
ready for instant use. It was the first chain-gang 
I had ever seen. With a sullen demeanor, and not 
without some wrangling, the convicts formed a 
double file. Each was shackled by the ankle and 
wrist to a long chain, with which they marched 
away in the midst of the guards, clanldng and 
proclaiming their crime alike to countrymen and 
strangers. There were young men, scornful, defi- 
ant, reckless ; men in their prime, with neither past 



CHOICE COMPANIONSHIP. 27 

nor future to contemplate with joy ; and old men, 
bleaclied with years or hardship, whose evening 
of life had come without that lamp of love, rest, 
and home which is the cheering light of declining 
years. 

We went aboard again late in the evening and 
found our worst fears realized. The two berths in 
our state-room were occupied, and one by a tawny 
Egyptian, Mohammed by name, the counterpart 
of our Smith or Jones, an astrologer by profession 
and an unwelcome nuisance in general. E'ow, what 
was to be done ? The ship was crowded ; a hun- 
dred and one saloon passengers, although fifty-four 
was the ancient craft's complement. The excess, 
at ftill rates, were disposed of in second-class berths 
and fed in a dungeon politely designated as the 
lower cabin. The night was hot, but old Alkali 
Bey, as we entitled him, who had the berth beside 
the two ports, was dreadfully afraid of a chance 
breath of heated Italian air, — he called it a draft, — 
and so the ports had to remain closed. 

We postponed retiring until it became a neces- 
sity, and by that time the odor of the venerable 
Arab and his musk, aided by the presence of a 
snoring Sicilian, had enriched the atmosphere of the 
state-room in a direction not conducive to refreshing 



28 AHOUND THE WOKLD. 

sleep. One night of it was enough, and after that 
we slept on deck, undisturbed by either heat or 
cold, in the balmy air of the southern latitudes. 

Stormy weather came upon us soon after we 
cleared from Brindisi, and so great was the pitching 
that the voyage was prolonged nearly a day, through 
the slip of the propeller. We passed close to the 
mainland of Greece and near two or three of its 
islands; but the gilding of their eternal summer, 
as Byron expresses it, was shrouded by the heav}' 
sides which mark the change of seasons. Our pas- 
sengers, with some few exceptions, were uninterest- 
ing, especially as many were sea-sick. However, 
we found pleasant companionship with Mr. W. M. 
Flinders Petrie, the English Egyptologist and au- 
thor, who has spent two winters in making an accu- 
rate survey of the Ghizeh pyramids, aided more or 
less by Dr. Birch, of the British Museum, and the 
Royal Society of London. We also had several 
consuls and other officials returning to their posts 
after the summer vacation, who entertained each 
other in discussing Arabi's coiq) d'etat, with the 
probable changes it would cause. 

The old "Bangalore" tumbled slowly along, until 
on the afternoon of the fourth day out fi-om Brindisi 
we were gladdened by a sight of the low coast of 



OUR RECEPTION IN EGYPT. 29 

Africa, followed by the modern Pharos of Alexan- 
dria and Pompey's Pillar. The Arab pilot cau- 
tiously guided us through the long mole into the 
harbor, and finally brought the ship to rest beside 
the new stone quay. Truly a great improvement 
upon the former method of landing in boats, amid 
the bedlam raised by the natives struggling for 
patronage. After a little annoyance from the howl- 
ing Arabs, we cleared our luggage and readily 
evaded the demand for our passports, as we had no 
idea of being detained to search for them in some 
Oriental circumlocution office. 

On the way to the hotel the bony horses, atten- 
uated by a lack of fodder and the recent burning 
heat of Afric's summer, became stalled in attempt- 
ing to cross the projecting track of the railway. In 
about five seconds we were out of that omnibus 
shouting to a slowly-approaching engine to halt. 
A strong pull, all together, extricated us from the 
snarl, and the noisy trap hurried away to the hotel 
on the Place Mehemet Ali, greeted by scores of 
children along the untidy streets. Evidently we 
were among the first of the winter travellers, after 
the long summer dearth. 

The sensation upon landing in Egypt a second 

time, although less novel, was even more profound 

3* 



30 AROUND THE WORLD. 

than the first. I had learned by the previous visit, 
and by subsequent study, the supreme interest cen- 
tred in this land of Mizraim, of the Pharaohs, and 
of the Ptolemies, the very " first in the race that 
led to Glory's goal." There is, however, little 
inspiration in Alexandria, — foul, crowded streets, 
mongrel population, lack of historical relics, and 
absence of amusements. True it is a busy place, 
with all shades of Levantines hurrying to and fro, 
with its moneyed men shouting on the bourse and 
in the maritime exchange. But much of this is 
European, and not what we long to see in Egypt. 

We drove to the spot where for centuries the two 
obelisks were, which now lend their ancient dignity 
to the metropolises of G-reat Britain and America. 
Then our way took us along the favorite road by 
the Mahmodieh Canal, and lastly to Pompey's 
Pillar, upon the hill, by the Mohammedan cemetery. 
So repulsive are the surroundings of this celebrated 
monolith, while the monument itself is in a sadly 
dilapidated condition, that its eflfect upon travellers 
is usually one of disappointment, especially if the 
observer has had the giant shaft heralded to him 
from childhood as one of the great sights of the 
world, as is frequently the case. 

The next morning we were ready to take the 



RISE OF THE NILE. 31 

early train for Cairo, and as the sky was overcast 
and saved us from the glaring sun, the day proved 
auspicious for the journey. As the annual inunda- 
tion was at about its highest level, nearly every- 
where the fertile fields of the Delta were partly or 
wholly submerged. In some places the fellaheen 
were sowing the winter crop, where the water had 
been made very shallow through the intervention 
of the dykes, high or low, which traverse the 
country in squares. 

Although the Kile directly overflows the ground 
upon its borders, such is not the case with that more 
distant. Egypt is a net-work of canals, basins, 
and embankments, by means of which the distribu- 
tion of the " gift of the Mle" is governed by engi- 
neers appointed for the purpose. The water re- 
maining in the embryo lakes after the soil in their 
vicinity has received its requisite deposit of the dark 
Abyssinian mud, or when the inundation has sub- 
sided, is either allowed to run into the river or is 
retained for later use. 

Often we saw the mud villages perched upon 
hillocks, completely isolated by the flood, and the 
tawny inhabitants wading to them with their scanty 
clothing upon their heads. The sky cleared as we 
went southward, and when we arrived at Cairo, 



32 AROUND THE WORLD. 

about the middle of the afternoon, unacclimated as 
we were, the rays of the sun, in the pure, dry atmos- 
phere, penetrated like the heat of a fire. 

Cairo ! The beautifal, the gay, the curious ! 
Few travellers remain indifierent to its charms, and 
fewer leave it mthout regret. The three brief years 
which had elapsed since I first beheld an Egyptian 
sunset fi'om the citadel, looking over the minareted 
city of the Caliphs and Memlooks to the stately 
pyramids of the primeval monarchy, the oldest of 
the old, had not in the slightest efiaced from my 
memory the splendor of the vision. Now as we 
approached the eyrie beside the imposing mosque 
of Mohammed Ali, I experienced the ardor of one 
who knows well the magnificence of the panorama 
which awaits him. The union of the ancient, the 
mediaeval, and the modern; the bounteous Mle and 
its half-mystic, half-historic monuments; the pro- 
lific valley, fi:amed in parched, stony hills and burn- 
ing deserts ; the crowded city, throbbing with life 
and pointed with the spires of faith; a living 
picture of the Arabian l^ights ; a vivid realization 
of the gorgeous Orient ! 

Alone we threaded the great bazaars, refusing 
the pretended aid of the commission-loving drag- 
omans, and yielded to the temptations offered by 



THE FIRST PAGE OF HISTORY. 33 

strange wares and chance antiquities. N^ext we 
spent a morning in tlie Boulak Museum, of which 
Brugsch Bey is the able curator, and there saw the 
most important of the mummies recently discovered 
beneath the Temple of Dayr-el-Bahree, at Thebes, 
Among them are those of Aames I., the founder 
of the New Empire and first king of the eigh- 
teenth dynasty; Thothmes III., the great Sethi I. 
and his famous son, Rameses 11., the Pharaoh of 
the Jewish captivity. Besides, there are the rich 
cases enclosing the bodies, garnished with hiero- 
glyphics, gilding, and colors, as bright almost as 
when they were executed fifteen hundred years 
before Christ. 

Making an early start one morning and taking 
donkeys with us, we went by train to Bedreshayn. 
Riding along the embankments above the inun- 
dated fields, we crossed the site of dead Memphis 
and explored the sculptured tombs, the marvellous 
Serapeum, or sepulchre of the sacred bulls, and the 
pyramids of Sakkara, the earliest structures of any 
kind now in existence. 

The native children, innocent of clothing, fol- 
lowed us by the score, clamoring for baksheesh and 
urging us to drink fi'om their water-jars, and cara- 
vans of Bedouins greeted us with the triple saluta- 



34 AROUND THE WORLD. 

tion of the Muslim as they passed towards the 
river, driving their strings of camels. High up 
in the tall date-palms the lithe Arabs, girded to 
the trees by ropes, were gathering in baskets 
the great clusters of ripe fruit. These they spread 
upon the ground in little wicket enclosures to 
dry. 

After lunching in the house of the late Mariette 
Bey, his residence during the work of excavating 
at Sakkara, we again mounted the donkeys and 
rode along the edge of the desert to Ghizeh. Here 
we halted beneath the battered face of the kingly 
Sphinx, that faithful guardian of the necropolis, 
which has almost outlasted time itself. After 
seeing the granite temple, the rock tombs, and the 
remains of the causeway upon which the forgotten 
builders of the pyramids dragged up the great 
stones from the river, we rode around to the 
entrance of Cheops. 

Of course, the ascent had to be made, assisted by 
the usual troublesome Bedouins. Upon descending 
we met Mr. Petrie, the archteologist, by appoint- 
ment, and with him penetrated the interior to both 
the king's and the queen's chambers. Within, our 
special attention was given to the unique and sur- 
prising features of the masonry, with which Mr. 



INCIDENT AT THE PYRAMIDS. 35 

Petrie has become very familiar by prolonged 
observation and study.* 

Upon reaching the middle of the north face of 
the Great Pyramid, as just related, we saw with 
indignation the name of an old American nostrum 
painted in huge black letters, then scarcely dry, on 
the stone above the entrance. In fact, the desecrator 
had only left the ground within two or three hours, 
after stating his purpose similarly to disfigure the 
ruins up the Mle. As I was aware that the patent 
compound thus disgracefully advertised had origi- 
nated in my own city, and is probably yet prepared 
there, — although its former owner, now a pitifal 
spectacle, bought it notoriety while living in the 
metropolis, — we begged Mr. Petrie to have the 
offensive daubing removed, at our expense. 

Our time in Egypt was necessarily brief, as we 
were booked for the Persian Gulf by the steamship 
" Canara," of the British India Steam N'avigation 
Company, which was almost daily expected in the 
Suez Canal from London. It was therefore no 
cause for surprise when, on the third day of our 

* Since returning home, I have had the pleasure of receiving 
from Mr. Petrie a copy of his exhaustive and learned work, " The 
Pyramids and Temples of Ghizeh." He settles forever the hereto- 
fore vexed question of the measurements of these monuments. 



36 AROUND THE WORLD. 

stay in Cairo, we received telegrams advising us 
to proceed to Suez, as the ship was already at Port 
Said. Our train left Cairo towards noon, and 
stopped at the Zagazig junction, amid a confusion 
of trains and a multitude of noisy tongues, for a 
late lunch or dinner, and about sundown we ran 
into Ismailia, midway on the canal. 

Thence to Suez, nearly three hours' ride, the rail- 
way follows the line of the Fresh-Water Canal, by 
which Suez is supplied. In some places it passes 
near De Lesseps's highway, but over territory 
struggling between the arid desert and a narrow 
belt of partial fertility imbibed from scanty touches 
of the Nile in the Fresh- Water Canal. 'No convey- 
ance of any description met the train at Suez, so 
we were compelled to tramp through the dark, 
unpaved, dusty streets to the hotel on the coast, 
followed by a squad of chattering coolies bearing 
the luggage. 

Suez is a miserable, broiling town with a foul 
bazaar and rapacious venders of coral and mother- 
of-pearl. The terminal works of the Suez Canal, 
the artificial harbor, and the associations of the 
Exodus, comprise its capital for the entertainment 
of travellers. It was near here the Israelites are 
believed to have crossed the Red Sea. A few miles 



THE GATE OF TWO CONTINENTS. 37 

distant, on an oasis in tb.e Arabian Desert, are the 
brackish springs bearing the name of Moses, the 
largest of which tradition has marked as the one 
he called forth from the rock with his rod. Here, 
too, the treasures of Ophir were transshipped to 
Jerusalem and Tyre, and here, as well, the sands of 
two great continents greet each other in burning 
silence. 



CHAPTER II. 

ON TEOPICAL SEAS. 

All are but parts of one stupendous whole, 

Wiose body Nature is, and God the soul. 

Pope. 

Early in the afternoon following our arrival at 
Suez, we received a hasty summons from the agent 
of the company to board the " Canara," as she was 
about to sail. In fifteen minutes we were steaming 
across the harbor in the launch, anxiously scanning 
the ship which was to be our moving home for 
nearly a month. Upon approaching her we were 
agreeably disappointed to find an almost new 
steamer, nearly three hundred feet long, and com- 
fortably arranged, both on deck and below. 

Our fellow-passengers, fifteen in number, all 

proved to be English except three. Four of them 

— ^three gentlemen and one lady — ^were bound for 

Zanzibar, as missionaries to the interior of Africa, 

sent by the two principal societies of London, 

representing the high and the low Church of 

England respectively. 
38 



EMBARKING FOR MECCA. 39 

Despite the hurry in bringing us on board, the 
ship never stirred until towards midnight, not an 
unusual experience for those who travel by the sea. 
However, in the interim we had abundant occupa- 
tion in watching the embarkation of hundreds or 
thousands of pilgrims bound to Mecca. The 
steamers on which these devotees crowded like 
cattle were of the most inferior class, small, and 
having a worn aspect, as if age had withdrawn 
them from regular passenger traffic, or even from 
the better grade of freight service. When the 
period named by the Koranic law for the pilgrim- 
age approaches, — the month of Zu'lheggeh, the last 
of the Muslim year, — ^these roving steamers, as well 
as many safer ones belonging to established lines, 
repair to various Mohammedan ports to secure 
assured cargoes of human freight. These they 
carry to Jeddah, about half-way down the Red Sea, 
the nearest point to the Holy City. 

While daylight lasted the native boats continued 
their trips to the steamers, each bringing twenty 
or thirty men, until the decks were white with 
Arab gowns and turbans. Thus huddled together, 
many without the requisite supply of food, a voyage 
of four or five days is undertaken upon the most 
trying sea on earth. Afterward the same wretched 



40 ON TROPICAL SEAS. 

herd must pass a month or more, amid deprivation 
and filth, in an unhealthy city, parched by the fierce 
sun of Arabia. ISTaturally enough, cholera broke 
out at Mecca. O Faith ! thy chains are of iron 
strength, and thou canst work evil and misery, as 
well as deeds of good. 

The ship had started, and the two lights, one red 
and one green, which mark the entrance to the 
Suez Canal, were disappearing in the distance be- 
fore we went below for the night. Our long voyage, 
upon waters and to lands yet unseen by us, had 
actually commenced. Until now we had been 
traversing familiar ground ; but henceforth, to the 
Golden Gate, a strange, new world promised to 
open before our expectant eyes its treasuries of 
sights and wonders. 

Great was our regret when we learned that the 
" Canara" had been ordered to omit the usual calls 
at Jeddah, ITodeidah, and Mocha, because of the 
presence of cholera at those places and the subse- 
quent quarantine entailed by visiting infected ports. 
In addition to this loss, the ship was ordered to be 
run at reduced speed to occupy the three days thus 
gained, that her schedule of dates might not be disar- 
ranged, even though we should be subjected to eight 
days of broiling in the fiery fiirnace of the Red Sea. 



SIGHTING MOUNT SINAI. 41 

Slowly we descended the Grulf of Suez, with the 
rocky coast of Egypt on the right ; and on the left, 
the sterile range of the Peninsula of Sinai, in the 
midst of which, during the first afternoon, we 
sought out the sacred mount from whose summit 
the God of Israel proclaimed the law unto Moses, 
and through him to the wandering children just 
freed from the house of bondage. Towards evening 
we entered the Red Sea proper. As yet we had 
suffered no inconvenience from the temperature, 
leading us to indulge the delusion that the famous 
heat had been exaggerated, or that, perhaps, we 
could escape it entirely at this particular season. 
Yain hope ! 

Morning dawned perceptibly warmer than any 
hour of the previous day, and when the sun neared 
the zenith the thermometer showed almost a hun- 
dred degrees beneath the double awnings covering 
both top and sides of the deck. The faint breeze, 
at first astern and later ahead, came as if from an 
oven. So it continued, day in and day out, mod- 
erating somewhat at night, until we passed out of 
this Red Hot Sea at the Gate of Tears, about a 
hundred miles from Aden. Even then the change 
was comparatively slight. But we were prepared 

for this fiery ordeal, and, as soon as it commenced, 

4* 



42 ON TROPICAL SEAS. 

the remedies were applied. Underwear was dis- 
carded, and dark clotlies gave way to suits of white 
duck or drill, with shoes to match, and the snowy 
helmet of India served to protect the head. Besides, 
thinking that conventionality would be a stranger 
on the Tigris and Euphrates, before leaving Suez 
we had our hair and beard clipped beyond the 
grasp of either comb or brush, a style of finish more 
simple than ornate. 

Every night our beds were brought on deck, 
where we slept, fanned by the warm breezes and 
clad only in loose silk pajamas. At six in the 
morning the dark-skinned Lascars, the sailors of 
the Oriental lines, roused us to escape the approach- 
ing hose. While the decks were being deluged we 
went below for a sea-water bath, or promenaded 
shoeless and with the calegons of the pajamas rolled 
up to the knees. Then came a cup of coffee and 
little strips of buttered toast, taken anywhere on 
deck beyond the momentary reach of the pursuing 
hose. That fiendish hose ! I became so sensitive 
to its ominous splash as to hear it before awaking, 
sometimes starting up and grasping my bed to run 
with it before entirely conscious. 

About eight o'clock it became absolutely neces- 
sary to endure the sweltering state-room long 



LUXURIES AGAINST HEAT. 43 

enough to slip into a white suit, buttoned up to the 
neck and without a collar of any kind. At nine 
came breakfast in the saloon, where the extreme 
heat was reduced by the swinging of the punka 
overhead. The punka, one of the institutions of 
India, is a long heavy wooden fan, usually with a 
pendant fringe of muslin or cloth, suspended from 
the ceiling and swung to and fro by a rope attached 
to its centre and extending through a hole to the 
hands of a coolie outside. The slender son of Asia \ 
who pulls this machine for hours at a time is called / 
the punka wallah. 

After breakfast we sought the shady side of the 
deck, and lounged upon our Indian chairs, reading 
or napping, until tiffin, or lunch, demanded renewed 
exertion. The chairs referred to are wholly unlike 
the folding ones used on trans- Atlantic steamers 
and much more comfortable, although not so port- 
able. They are made entirely of bamboo, with the 
seat and reclining back close-plaited, long and per- 
manent in form, with a foot-rest, broad arms, and 
receptacles for a tumbler and a handkerchief 

As soon as tiffin was disposed of the same laz}^ 
routine followed until the bell called us to dinner. 
When the opal tints in the west changed to gray, 
and the gray into night, the curtains around the 



44 ON TROPICAL SEAS. 

deck were lifted, revealing the firmament spangle.d 
with a brilliancy unknown at home. Glittering, 
twinkling, darting, shining; the jewelled heavens 
above, the glistening waters beneath ; a ship upon 
the sea, pilgrims on the voyage of life, — all ! all ! the 
wondrous mystery of creation, turning the thoughts 
to God, We walked and talked, pointed out the 
constellations, and struggled to be entertained by 
monotone music from the piano. Unfeigned was 
our joy when, between nine and ten, the ladies 
retired and the beds appeared, so that we could don 
our pajamas, and drift sweetly into the land of 
dreams, thinking of home and friends in our be- 
reaved country beyond three seas. And then — 
that tormenting hose ! 

Having been forbidden to stop at Jeddah, the 
" Canara" proceeded down the middle of the sea, far 
away from the dangerous shoals and submarine 
coral reefs which fi-inge the shore, although we 
were frequently within sight of the barren, rocky, 
sandy, almost uninhabited coasts of Arabia, ITubia, 
and Abyssinia. It is from these parched desert 
tracts that the intense heat is exhaled over the deep 
blue waters. On the third day we passed the port 
for Medina, where the Prophet is buried; and 
farther south the officers indicated the location of 



A MUSLIM MYTH OF EVE. 45 

Jeddah by the rocks. Our disappointment at not 
being permitted to land there was aggravated 
by the knowledge that we should have seen the 
assemblage of pilgrims for Mecca, which is less than 
fifty miles distant, as it was but a fortnight to the 
first of the month of Zu'lheggeh. Unless the 
Mussulman enters the Holy City by that day his 
pilgrimage is void. 

We also had a moderate feeling of curiosity to 
visit Eve's Tomb, which the Mohammedans have 
located at Jeddah, as the remains of the primitive 
mother are represented as having a length of three 
hundred and fifty feet. This shows that the ladies 
of her age must have been considerably taller than 
those of the present day, French heels included. 
With some regret I pass from Jeddah without 
describing the ceremonies of the pilgrimage, having 
already done so elsewhere.* 

Some distance southward from Jeddah, on the 
Arabian shore, is Hodeidah, where we would have 
halted but for the cholera. Farther down we could 
almost discern Mocha, whence comes the choice 
coffee of that name. It was not until daylight of 
the seventh day that we passed through the Straits 

* Outlying Europe and the Nearer Orient, chapter iv. 



46 ON TROPICAL SEAS. 

of Bab-el-Mandeb, or Glate of Tears, the entrance to 
wliicli is commanded by the desolate, rocky island 
of Perim, situated in the channel between the two 
shores. Perim is held by England on account of 
its strategical value, and garrisoned by a single 
company from Aden. The British took possession 
of it only as late as 1865, upon accidentally hearing 
that two French men-of-war, then at Aden, were 
secretly bound on the same mission. 

"We anchored in the broad harbor of Aden before 

dawn on the eighth day, and rejoiced to be told 
» 

that we might go ashore, as the ship was to re- 
main four days. This privilege was unexpected, 
as cholera had just been epidemic and the port 
was still quarantined against as infected. 

After sunrise the " Canara" was surrounded by 
small boats, and strange types of men boarded our 
decks. Parsees from Bombay, the fire-worshippers, 
with their peculiar tall Persian hats ; Africans of 
the Somali nation, tall, slim, almost nude, and with 
moppy hair dyed a reddish color; Arabian Jews, 
the persistent venders of ostrich-feathers, for which 
Aden is the mart of the world, effeminate in face 
and manner, and wearing long side curls; Arabs, in 
summery attire and not unlike the Egyptians; a few 
Englishmen dressed in white, and enervated by the 



THE ARABIAN GIBRALTAR. 47 

stifling summer climate; and the yelping, daring 
little diving boys, with only a rag about their loins, 
amphibious creatures who plunge for a coin with 
unerring success, or swim under the ship from one 
side to the other, or race around the buoys in their 
miniature dug-out canoes. Early each morning 
myriads of small sword-fish and bonitos gathered 
in the clear water about the steamer, and were 
easily taken with a line. 

Upon landing we were beset by the people to buy, 
or accept a guide, or to drive in one of the several 
dilapidated extension-top American phaetons which 
have found their way here. The best shops for 
ostrich-feathers and curiosities are on the crescent 
facing the harbor, in what is known as Steamer 
Point, the town itself and the camp being across 
the narrow peninsula, and located, apparently, in 
the crater of an extinct volcnno. 

The entire promontory, wu^ch is strongly forti- 
fied and somewhat resembles Gibraltar, has a 
cindery aspect, and is utterly without vegetation. 
The solitary relief from this dreary monotony is a 
small artificial garden, with a few trees and plants, 
near the Tanks. Even this is sustained with great 
difficulty by a lavish expenditure of the precious 
water, which residents buy in skins at dear prices. 



48 ON TROPICAL SEAS. 

And yet there is a tradition among the Arabs that 
Aden is the site of the Garden of Eden ! 

The Aden of the present is but a shadow of the 
past, when it was a great commercial entrepot on 
the highway between Europe and India. Of this 
former city nothing of importance is left except the 
famous tanks for the storage of water, which the 
English have repaired and brought into use. These 
works comprise a series of large reservoirs hewn 
out of the virgin rock, or partially formed by the 
addition of masonry, in a precipitous gorge above 
the town. As the rock is soft and fall of cracks, the 
excavations have been lined with cement, to prevent 
the water from escaping. With these basins, al- 
though rain falls only at long intervals, a moderate 
supply of the vital liquid is generally maintained. 

Of the origin of these tanks nothing definite 
is known. Some attribute them to colonists as 
early as the Phoenicians ; but they were probably 
built in the flourishing period of the Arabians. 
"Whatever may be their history, their conception, 
execution, and desertion serve to strengthen the 
moral pointed by the crumbling mounds of 
Mneveh and Babylon, by the stately ruins of 
Thebes and Palmyra, Athens and Pome, by the en- 
lightenment of Occidental Europe, and by the rapid 



MARCH OF THE CHOLERA. 49 

development of a miglity empire in America, — ^that, 
in tlie economy of I^^ature, the march of civilization 
and prosperity is steadily westward. 

After spending four precious days lying in the 
broiling harbor of Aden, waiting for two passengers 
by the French mail steamer, the " Canara" finally 
sailed for Kurrachee. Before our departure a tele- 
gram had been received from London directing the 
ship to terminate her voyage at Kurrachee, instead 
of proceeding as usual up the Persian Gulf to Bus- 
sorah, on the Shat-el-Arab River. The reason for 
this order was the severe quarantine imposed at 
Ottoman ports against the cholera of India and the 
Red Sea, and the consequent delays and complica- 
tions in handling freight and specie. 

This change foreboded us trouble, as it implied a 
probable wait for the company's coastwise steamer, 
which consumes time by calling at several dull 
Gulf ports, and afterwards the sanitary detentions 
and failures to connect. So we left Aden feeling 
that our cherished expedition to Bagdad was in 
jeopardy, but still hopefal. 

For three days after the bold promontory of Aden 
had disappeared in the distance we skirted the 
parched, rocky coast of Southern Arabia. On the 
fourth the barren panorama terminated with the 



50 ON TROPICAL SEAS. 

Kuria Muria Islands. Thence we headed across the 
Arabian Sea to Kurrachee, in the Indian province 
of Sindh, near the delta of the Indus, and close to 
the boundary of Beloochistan. The entire voyage 
of a week, save a single incident, was extremely 
monotonous, our daily routine resembling that on 
the Red Sea, except that the heat was more mod- 
erate. 

The episode which alone varied the even current 
of our life on board was the death and burial of a 
young son of the lady and gentleman who joined 
us at Aden. Such an event, happening among a 
few closely thrown together, naturally cast its 
sombre shadow over all. 

Although the boy was sick at the start, nothing 
serious was feared ; but shortly pneumonia set in, 
and then it became evident that the bidden spirit 
was struggling to free itself from the weary body. 
The Hindu ayah flitted to and fro with anxious 
face; and the saddened mother fought for that 
little life as only a mother could. One evening, 
just after dinner, the end came unawares. The 
mother sat by her boy, but the childish soul was 
already voyaging on the arcane sea of eternity; 
upon "the mighty waters rolling evermore." 

That night, when all was silent, they carried 



THE PRESENCE OF DEATH. 51 

up something rolled in white, and stowed it in one 
of the boats. Later, I stole a half-hour upon the 
bridge with the third officer, to enjoy the resplen- 
dent night. The tropical moon was at its full, and 
sea and sky reflected the glory of the Creator. "We 
talked of the beauty about us and of the problems 
of navigation, but instinctively toned our voices so 
low that they seemed to harmonize with the pro- 
found stillness which reigned everywhere. Scarcely 
anything was said of the day's occurrence ; but ever 
and anon our thoughts and our eyes turned to the 
boat which sheltered the dead, responsive to that 
strange, subtle influence attending the presence of 
death. 

Early the following morning we gathered at 
the open rail, around a rude coffin shrouded with 
the Union Jack of England. The engine ceased 
its throbbing; the usual medley of noises was 
hushed, and the ship's bell tolled in mournfiil 
cadence. 

" We therefore commit his body to the deep, to 
be turned into corruption, looking for the resurrec- 
tion of the body (when the sea shall give up her 
dead) and the life of the world to come." 

Down beneath the waves plunged the weighted 
box, to drift in the depths, from winter to summer, 



52 ON TROPICAL SEAS. 

careless of sunshine or storm, until, perchance, the 
restless surf shall cast up 

"A few white bones upon a lonely sand." 

As we neared our destination it became almost 
certain that we would be a few hours late for the 
steamer from Bombay to the Gulf, involving a loss 
to us of six days. So slow was the speed of the 
" Canara," never exceeding nine knots, that the 
case was hopeless unless the company should detain 
the outgoing ship for our passengers, specie, and 
cargo. 

"We entered the harbor on a beautiful Sun- 
day morning, and learned that the steamer had 
sailed the evening previous ! Yet undaunted, we 
bade adieu to the gentlemanly officers of the 
" Canara," and went ashore to dispose ourselves 
for the enforced stay as favorably as circumstances 
would permit. 

Only one of the two small hotels at Kurrachee 
was open, and that was full ; so we took quarters 
at the Travellers' Bungalow. This hostelry, like 
most of those on the public roads of India, is a 
long, low structure of one story, with many doors 
but no windows, and sheltered from the sun by a 
veranda hung with curtains of matting. "Within, 



A HOPELESS COMPLICATION. 53 

the large apartments are almost bare of furniture, 
and in the rear of each is a rude out-house contain- 
ing a round tub for bathing. The early coffee may- 
be taken at will, but the breakfast at nine, tiffin at 
two, and dinner at eight are served in iable-d'Mte 
style. Male servants alone are employed, and they 
are always addressed as " boys." The word bun- 
galow, besides its use in the sense of a hotel, is also 
generally applied to the private houses of foreigners, 
whether they be in the cities or suburban. 

Our efforts to talk with the servants in this bun- 
galow produced at least one comical scene. Early 
in the morning, while we were still in our pajamas 
and I was lying upon the bare bed, my companion 
called the " boy," and undertook to order breakfast. 
The willing Hindu readily comprehended the word 
coffee, but neither signs nor repetition could make 
him grasp the idea of eggs. 

"While my friend was thus patiently struggling I 
could not resist the impulse to say " hen fruit." 
Its effect was electrical. The boy's face instantly 
brightened, and he exclaimed with evident relief, 
" Fruit ! Yes, yes !" To remedy such a complica- 
tion was a hopeless task, so we paid the penalty for 
the jest by having nothing more than bread and 

coffee, as the strange fruit was not to our taste. 

5* 



54 ON TROPICAL SEAS. 

Kurrachee is a straggling city of fifty thousand 
inhabitants and a seaport of some importance. In 
the cantonment, or new town, a few of the build- 
ings are tasty, but the streets are horribly dusty 
and the sun grills the noonday pedestrian. The 
native quarter is a huddle of promiscuous humanity, 
naked or half clad, breathing an atmosphere which 
could be held accountable for any scourge. In the 
environs, on the sea^shore, is a bathing resort called 
Clifton, where huge turtles can easily be "turned" 
at daybreak. Kurrachee is also noted locally for 
its fish, of which the pomfret is the choicest. 

About an hour's ride northward from the city, in 
a valley known as Magar Pir, the Hindus have 
located a templfe on the borders of a swamp which 
swarms with alligators of the largest size. The 
place is dedicated to one of the many Brahmin 
deities, and pilgrims on their way to and from the 
shrine at Hinglaj make oblations of food to the 
sacred reptiles. If the offering is at once devoured, 
the omen is favorable ; but, should satiety cause it 
to be declined, a liberal baksheesh will induce the 
obliging attendants to ram the mess down the holy 
monster's throat. 

" And ne'er did Faith with her smooth bandage bind 
Eyes more devoutly willing to be blind." 



MOURNING FOR NINEVEH AND BABYLON. 55 

Two days after arriving in Kurrachee we received 
a visit from the captain of tlie "Canara," who 
brought with him the commander of the steamer 
bound southward from the Grulf ports. They 
kindly came to warn us that Bushire was prostrated 
by fever, and that the Turkish authorities at 
Bussorah would hold us ten days in quarantine on 
a barren, scorching isle below the city, among the 
sick and without the meanest necessities. 

Further, by this delay we would miss the steam- 
boat which ascends the Tigris to Bagdad, obliging 
us to pass another week in a mud town, " the dir- 
tiest even in the Turkish dominions." What deten- 
tion might follow on the downward trip, when the 
pilgrims from Mecca would be crowding home- 
ward, or if the previous winter's plague should 
revive at Bagdad, could only be conjectured. Be- 
sides the risks of contagion, we clearly saw that to 
persist would involve the loss of so much time that 
our plans for the extreme East must be sacrificed. 

For two hours we endured the mental struggle of 
indecision, battling with the inevitable. We were 
depressed, disappointed. In all the grand tour 
there was nothing we had been so ambitious to 
accomplish as this work upon the Tigris and the 
Euphrates, even though our reward should be little 



66 ON TROPICAL SEAS. 

more than a gratification of sentiment: to stand 
upon crumbling mounds, amid silence and desola- 
tion, and traverse the deserted plains which once 
glittered with the pomp and splendor of Nineveh 
and Babylon. We were in earnest, and prepared 
for the task ; but it seemed to be intended that we 
should turn aside. It was settled : we abandoned 
the project. 

Until the facilities for travel improve, the journey- 
through Asiatic Turkey and Persia should not be 
attempted in less than an entire autumn and winter. 
There are indications, however, that a sweeping 
change will soon be wrought in this inert section 
through the influence of the vast possessions which 
Eussia and Great Britain have acquired in Asia. 
Schemes for a railway down the Valley of the 
Euphrates have already been discussed in England, 
and both Russia and Turkey are aiming for trans- 
continental lines to the gates of India. 

When our resolution was taken, we made im- 
mediate preparations to leave for Bombay, and by 
sundown we were waving adieu to our quondam 
friends of the " Canara," as we steamed out of the 
harbor on the "Pachumba." And what a si^ht 
our ship presented ! Between-decks were seventy 
horses of Persian and Arabian breeds, bound to 



FROM THE AFGHAN WAR. 57 

the profitable market of India, and above she 
carried a motley assemblage of Orientals, number- 
ing nearly three hundred. Among these passen- 
gers were about sixty men of the Fifteenth Bengal 
Infantry, just detached from the Quetta Column 
of the Anglo- Afghan war, then lately concluded, 
and returning to Calcutta. Their English officers, 
who were in the saloon, entertained us with recitals 
of the movements and hardships of that trying 
campaign. 

Long before daylight on the third day we sighted 
the Prongs, or Colaba Light, and by dawn the ship 
was moored in the broad harbor of Bombay. We 
ran the gauntlet of the pestering natives and landed, 
feeling that now we were treading the soil of India. 
India ! That " coral strand" of childhood too dis- 
tant ever to be realized by the eye. But time works 
wonders, and here before us is India. 



CHAPTER III. 



BOMBAY. 



Kemark each anxious toil, each eager strife, 
And watch the busy scenes of crowded life. 

Dr. Johnson. 

Bombay seemed like a new world, despite its 
elements of similarity to Egypt or Asiatic Turkey. 
The people and their ways, the climate, the city 
itself, half beautifal and half miserable, are all dif- 
ferent and strange. Even the landscape has its 
own tropical characteristics; the hills are dotted 
with groups of cocoanut-trees, as well as the white 
bungalows of the wealthy. 

Then the carriages, or gharries, as they are called, 
are odd and novel. Fancy a gayly painted, diminu- 
tive cart, on two wheels, drawn by a pair of small 
trotting oxen, and filled with men or women dressed 
in the gaudiest colors; or a palanquin with lat- 
ticed windows, as sombre as a Venetian gondola, 
and borne on a single pole by perspiring coolies. 
There is likewise a falling-top " buggy" on a pair 
68 



A MILD WINTER. 69 

of wheels, with two seats for passengers and one in 
jfront for the native driver. Another vehicle is a 
narrow, enclosed box, with seats vis-a-vis, and hung 
low on four wheels. The hansom has also invaded 
Bombay, and the rich families drive on the Espla- 
nade, or along the Breach Candy road, in the con- 
ventional London equipage, minus the gorgeous 
velvet coats and immaculate silk stockings of the 
august lackeys. 

Nowhere had we seen clothing dispensed with to 
the degree witnessed here ; and well it may be, as 
the climate is muggy and oppressive beyond all 
comparison. What it must be in summer is difficult 
to estimate, with such a winter. Winter, indeed ! 
when one could scarcely exist in the gauziest rai- 
ment, aided by two baths daily. They told us it 
was unusually warm for the season. My companion 
lay awake three-fourths of the night, when there is 
not a breath of air stirring, and declared that every- 
thing is unusual wherever he goes. I managed 
somewhat better. I wrote, sweltered, and fought 
the mosquitoes until nature yielded, and sleep re- 
tained its sway until daylight. 

Then the pandemonium of noises commenced; 
and as there were no bells, every one called " Boy ! 
boy!" A host of utterly useless servants (the 



60 BOMBAY. 

provoking, ubiquitous beggars !) held a carnival of 
jabbering, throwing about tin bathing-tubs, draw- 
ing water from pipes fed by a jerky pump, and run- 
ning in and out of the rooms. Without waiting for 
an order, they knock at the doors and bring in 
coffee, and, if permitted, at once proceed to make 
the beds. We invited three of them out before 
seven one morning. Somewhat later we had the 
dhobie (laundryman), the mehtar (sweeper), a money- 
changer, a coolie with a box of purchases, and two 
bores, — one who wanted a situation as butler, and 
another who had a traveller's bed-quilt for sale. 
And then in walked the letter-carrier with our mail, 
according to the custom of his class. 

The chief hotel is large and finely situated, but 
the service is wretched, the apartments untidy, the 
sanitary appointments very primitive, and the gen- 
eral effect disappointing. 

But the climax of the servant farce is at meals. 
Then the dining-room swarms with " boys," many 
wearing the European livery of the house, and 
others the native costume, with huge turbans. The 
latter are privately employed, and each stands be- 
hind his master's chair. Think of the ornament 
and dignity they lend at the daily wages of only 
five annas, or less than fifteen cents ! It should be 



THE THRONG OF LIFE. 61 

stated, in extenuation, tliat the multiplication of 
servants so common in India is largely due to 
the demands of Hindu caste, which, limits every 
man's sphere of labor. Of this subject, more in its 
place. 

We drove through the bazaars, searching for 
Indian curiosities, and wondered at the throng of 
life everywhere. Brown skins almost nude, or else 
arrayed in snowy-white or fantastic colors, but al- 
ways crowned with the bunchy turban, unless it be 
the peculiar tall, stift' hat of the Parsee. Hindus 
are easily distinguished from the Mohammedans by 
the stripes or round spots roughly painted on their 
foreheads, to indicate the caste to which they belong 
or the tutelary deity they specially worship. 

The women are even more picturesque than the 
men. Decked in rainbow tints, with the garments 
drawn close to their undulating figures, they walk 
with firm and often graceful bearing. The nether 
limbs and feet are uncovered, and frequently the 
bust or waist will be partially exposed. They adorn 
themselves with a profusion of cheap bracelets of 
various materials, together with heavy anklets of 
silver, and a few rings find places on the toes. Ear- 
rings hang from the top of the ears, while one of 
the nostrils supports a ring or other ornament. If 



62 BOMBAY. 

she happens to be a mother, the child is carried 
astraddle her hip. 

Bombay is an island city, with one of the finest 
natural land-locked harbors on the globe. The 
lower, or English, section, called the Fort, occupies 
the site of a demolished citadel, and contains a 
group of surprisingly ornate and imposing public 
buildings, efiectively spaced on broad avenues or 
on the Esplanade by the sea. In the native quarter 
we find the usual narrow streets of the Orient, un- 
savory odors, swarming humanity, and huddled, 
fanci,ftil houses. 

Here the bazaars, unlike those of Cairo, Damas- 
cus, and Stamboul, have no covering overhead, 
and prices are perceptibly higher than in those 
cities. The annoying system of bargaining, so uni- 
versal in the East, prevails in Bombay, but not to 
the same extent we had heretofore experienced. 

One of the many benefits of British rule in India 
has been to induce opulent natives to construct and 
endow public institutions; some from charitable 
motives, and others for the hope of distinction. 
To reward these acts of liberality, if they be of 
sufficient importance, the government confers the 
decoration of the Star of India, and, in exceptional 
cases, knighthood, or even a baronetcy. Thus the 



ASYLUM FOR BEAST AND BIRD. 63 

surplus wealth of princes and merchants, instead 
of suffering waste in unneeded temples or extrav- 
agant tombs, as of old, is now gradually being 
directed into channels of education and utility. 

In Bombay the Parsees are eminently conspicu- 
ous in these works, which accords with their status 
as the most progressive element of the population. 
Benevolent asylums, schools, colleges, fountains, 
and monuments have been raised, each tableted 
with the story of its creation, and bearing the 
complicated name of the donor. By frequently 
reading these inscriptions we soon become familiar 
with the good deeds of Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, 
Bart, Gr.C.S.L, Sir Cowasjee Jeehangeer Ready- 
money, K.C.S.L, and Premchand Raichand, Esq., 
J.P.^ 

The most curious of all the institutions of Bom- 
bay is the hospital which the Hindus have estab- 
lished for animals. Within the enclosure of several 
acres, located in one of the densest quarters of the 
city, the sick and the maimed of all domestic 
species are collected in sheds and stables for treat- 
ment or rest. Every morning early wagons are 
sent throughout the city to gather the outcasts and 
the waifs, that nothing with life may be destroyed, 
in violation of the Vedic law. 



64 BOMBAY. 

Birds as well as beasts are afforded shelter, not 
excluding repulsive vultures and scavenger crows. 
Dogs in every stage of scurvy, fall of loathsome 
sores, barked and howled in distracting chorus as 
we passed their crowded cages. Cows and buffa- 
loes of all sizes, old or diseased, and forlorn, bony 
horses, stood or lay in melancholy passiveness, as 
if patiently awaiting the relief of death. These, 
with helpless deserted kittens that must not be 
drowned, chickens with spots bare of feathers, 
monkeys scratching and tearing at their troubled 
hides, and perfumes not to be described, will afford 
some conception of this strange asylum. 

A more alluring sight for a tropical winter morn- 
ing is the Crawford Market, than which there is 
none finer anywhere. The buildings are of iron, 
airy in design and of great extent, surrounding a 
large gardened court. Frait, vegetables, flowers, 
meat, spices, and fish are diligently tendered to all 
comers at the stalls, and a portion of the garden is 
allotted for the sale of poultry, birds of plumage, 
monkeys, and sometimes small animals, such as the 
mangoose. 

After watching the natives bargain for flowers, 
to be placed in the temples as offerings, we in- 
quired for the stands having the famous mangoes 



TOWERS OF THE DEAD. 65 

of Mazagon, a suburb of Bombay. This luscious 
though excessively sweet fruit was formerly so 
prized that Shah Jehan (1627) is said to have main- 
tained a constant supply of it by relays of couriers 
from Delhi to the western coast, a stretch of nearly 
eight hundred miles. Here, in this bounteous mart, 
we also saw the leaf and nut of the betel, or areca 
palm, so generally chewed by the natives, blacken- 
ing their teeth and giving the lips and saliva a 
reddish hue. 

One afternoon of our sojourn at Bombay we are 
never likely to forget. Driving through the pretty 
suburbs to Malabar Point, and thence along the sea 
by Breach Candy, we ascended the hill and alighted 
at the road leading to the walled compound of the 
Parsee Towers of Silence. At the gate of the en- 
closure an officer required our permit, which was 
duly presented, signed by the Secretary of the Pun- 
chayat, or Committee of Five. 

Full of curiosity concerning what we should be 

permitted to see, we were conducted with much 

deference to a low, heavy stone building — the house 

of prayer — as funereal in aspect as an old Etruscan 

tomb. Here we were asked to register our names 

in a book, after which a model of one of the towers 

was uncovered for inspection. We were then led 
e 6* 



66 BOMBAY. 

through a garden and a grove of palms, the latter 
swarming with vultures and crows, to within about 
thirty feet of the largest of the five round towers. 
At this point our guide firmly indicated that no 
one was allowed to proceed farther, not even the 
most influential of the Parsees, excepting only the 
two bearded men who bear the remains after they 
are taken from the biers. 

Upon gratings, on the summit of these towers, 
which are but twenty-five feet in height, the Par- 
sees invariably expose the naked bodies of their 
dead. Scarcely a single hour elapses before every 
particle of flesh is devoured by the ravenous birds 
which ever haunt the locality. I counted thirty- 
flve monster vultures quietly waiting on the great 
tower alone, which is nearly one hundred feet in 
diameter. On the slender palms they were crowd- 
ing each other off" the perches, snapping, or else 
fighting with their immense wings. It is estimated 
that a thousand of them are constantly present, not 
to mention a host of crows. 

The bones either fall through into the well below, 
or are cast there, by the two gloved attendants, with 
tongs. After performing this duty they immedi- 
' ately purify themselves by washing and throwing 
away the white clothing always worn by those 



DISCIPLES OF ZOROASTER. 67 

participating in a faneral. This is done because a 
corpse is considered unclean, — an idea possibly bor- 
rowed from the ancient Egyptians. Those primeval 
devotees of Amun-Ra (the sun), like the Parsees 
for ages past, regarded the persons who handled 
the deceased as outcasts, and as such the unfortu- 
nates were condemned to live strictly among them- 
selves. 

The Parsees, who thus so uniquely reduce their 
dead, are followers of the philosopher Zoroaster, — 
the Ghebers, or Fire-Worshippers. They are of 
Persian descent, their early ancestors having been 
driven from Iran by the intolerance of the Muslim 
conquerors. By agreement with the Hindus, 
whose customs and religion they covenanted to re- 
spect, they were allowed to settle in "Western India. 
Here, by their natural intelligence, progressiveness, 
and devotion to commerce, they have attained 
wealth, position, and influence. 

Despite the prominent modern characteristics of 
the Parsees, they still adhere tenaciously to their 
original faith. Twenty-five centuries of thought 
and practice have wrought but little change in their 
creed. And w;hen we consider that the same may 
be said of hundreds of millions of Hindus and 
Buddhists, what hope is there for regeneration in 



68 BOMBAY. 

the future ? The Parsees worship fire as the sym- 
bol of the Deity, — a shining light, the creator, dis- 
penser, and preserver. In their Fire Temples, to 
which we were denied admittance, a flame is ever 
burning, fed with perfumed wood. Morning and 
evening the devout offer their prayers to the sun, 
not, as they claim, in idolatry, but in a vicarious 
sense, as the dazzling luminary is the most perfect 
visible evidence of the Divine presence. 

In a note to " The Fire- Worshippers," in " Lalla 
Rookh," Moore quotes this extract : " Early in the 
morning they (the Parsees or Ghebers, at Oulam) 
go in crowds to pay their devotions to the sun, to 
which upon all the altars there are spheres conse- 
crated, made by magic, resembling the circles of 
the sun ; and when the sun rises, these orbs seem 
to be inflamed, and to turn round with a great noise. 
They have every one a censer in his hands, and 
offer incense to the sun." 

This reverence for fire is also extended to the 
other elements. Hence the earth or the sea cannot 
be polluted with the dead. Even the rain which 
falls into the well of the funeral tower is disinfected 
by passing it through charcoal before it enters the 
drains. Yet, with all this pious care, it is evident 
that the air is defiled by their peculiar system. 



HINDU FUNERAL PYRES. 69 

Besides, an occasional bone drops from the talons 
of some repulsive bird into the city's reservoir near 
by, contaminating the water and exciting protests 
from other sects. 

While we were yet upon the ground a ftmeral 
arrived, — fifty or more men all in white robes, — 
whereupon we were hurried away to the terrace ad- 
joining the house of prayer. There we had a splen- 
did view of Bombay and its environs ; of the abodes 
of nearly three-quarters of a million of the living, 
many of whom are fated to be cast out as carrion. 

Driving homeward by the route we had come, 
we witnessed yet another striking spectacle. Our 
carriage halted on the main road beside the gate of 
a long, high wall, where a sepoy invited us to enter. 
"We did so, and after walking a few steps within 
the compound, or yard, the breeze came laden with 
a revolting stench. ]!!Toticing that we were about 
to retreat, our cicerone altered his course and guided 
us to a position outside the low rear wall of the 
enclosure, in a Muslim cemetery. 

Here, just as night was falling, we climbed the 
wall, and found ourselves in the full glare of three 
Hindu funeral pyres. To the right of us the fires 
of as many more were about expiring. One di- 
rectly in front of our perch, not over four or five 



70 BOMBAY. 

yards distant, had been lighted only a few moments 
previously ; and to that we directed our attention. 
"We were now somewhat to the windward in the 
sea-breeze, which protected us from nauseating 
fiimes, but not entirely from heat. 

No furnace or retort of any kind is employed. 
A simple pile in the open air, not unlike a cord of 
wood in appearance, only about one-third smaller 
in dimensions, contains the corpse near the top. 
Four iron uprights driven into the ground prevent 
the logs from scattering. The torch is applied 
below, and the whole soon blazes and crackles. 
If a strong draft drives the flames away from either 
end, a portable iron screen is used as a fender. 
When the mass falls a few sticks are added, thor- 
oughly to complete the cineration. A few friends 
of the deceased stand around, or coil themselves 
under a long shed, until all is finished. 

The pyre immediately before us concealed the 
body of a man, but his long, bony feet and ankles 
protruded several inches. On the side towards us 
we could also see an emaciated hand. When the 
darting flames reached these extremities, and the 
brown sldn first blistered and withered and then 
peeled, the broiling, dripping flesh was a ghastly 
sight. Still we held our places. As the cremation 



EDICTS OF HUMANITY. 71 

progressed the mourners were apparently more 
amused than impressed, as they repeatedly smiled 
when one part after another was consumed. In 
less than an hour all visible portions of the remains 
were charred, and the pile showed indications of 
tumbling. Having already seen adjacent pyres in 
the remaining stages of the process, we gladly 
exchanged our tiresome place on the wall for the 
more comfortable gharry. 

As we drove homeward and reviewed the memo- 
rable experiences of the day, I thought of the 
horrible scenes which must have been enacted in 
Hindu crematories when living women burned 
themselves with their dead husbands. Little as 
British policy cares to interfere with the religious/ 
observances of its Indian subjects, humanity and! 
civilization long ago successfully demanded the} 
abolition of sutteeism. The same progressive edict 
likewise stopped the dread wheels of Juggernaut's 
car, crushed the murderous Thugs, and arrested the 
arm of the fanatical mother bent upon throwing 
her infant to the crocodiles of the Ganges. 

In contrasting these two expeditious methods of 
disposing of the dead, the enlightened mind will 
quickly decide in favor of that of the Hindu. But 
the great objection to their mode is its crudeness. 



72 BOMBAY. 

If' they could be induced to adopt the plan of seal- 
ing the body in a retort, somewhere removed from 
the populous highways, much might be urged in 
defence of their system. In the climate of India 
the decomposition of lifeless animal matter is rapid 
and pernicious, and the people live in utter igno- 
rance of sanitary precautions. Our only wonder 
is that sweeping epidemics of cholera, smallpox, 
and fever are not more frequent. Fire at once 
obviates the danger of contagion or of shallow 
burial. 

Again, the large mortality in a population of 
two hundred and fifty millions, constantly accumu- 
lating, would require an enormous area for ceme- 
teries; removing from the sphere of production 
much valuable ground in the vicinity of cities, 
towns, and villages. Constantinople, for example, 
is fairly encircled with dreary sepulchres, in all 
degrees of neglect and decay. 

One of the denizens of the streets of Bombay, 
as well as of Cairo, is the snake-charmer. He 
haunts the locality of the larger hotels, and per- 
suades travellers in a begging, wheedling manner 
to spare just a few moments for his little entertain- 
ment. The instant he secures the coveted attention 
a formidable cobra, about four feet in length, lazily 



A juggler's tricks. 73 

uncoils itself from a round basket and wanders over 
the ground. Sometimes it will be a rock snake, or 
boa, of nearly double the size named; but this 
species is innocent of the deadly fangs of the 
former. ISText, perhaps, he liberates a hooded 
cobra, and then two or three harmless grass snakes, 
which wriggle away so rapidly that they almost 
escape. The charmer gathers the small reptiles in 
one hand, and with the other twines the cobra 
around his neck or waist. Although he pretends 
to guard against being touched by the fatal venom, 
we were sceptical enough to believe that the docile 
captive had been deprived of its fangs. 

A mangoose is now produced, — a little animal 
resembling a weasel, and to which the bite of a 
serpent is said to be innocuous. One of the small 
snakes, upon being thrown down, was wickedly 
attacked by the diminutive creature and so savagely 
bitten about the head that it soon became limp and 
covered with blood. 

The snakes are finally thrust into the baskets and 
the usual tricks follow. One of them, at least, is 
worthy a description. In the hemisphere of a 
cocoanut shell filled with water the conjurer placed 
a painted toy duck. This simple apparatus stood 
on the ground directly before us, and removed 



74 BOMBAY. 

from all other objects. Retiring to the distance of 
a yard or more, the man played upon a native drum, 
and the tiny duck responded by dancing in unison 
with every beat. We ottered the juggler a sov- 
ereign for the secret, but he declined with a salaam 
and left with his modest baksheesh. 

We devoted one of our last days in Bombay to 
visiting the celebrated rock temples known as the 
Caves of Elephanta. The island of that title, which 
contains these remarkable excavations, is situated 
in the harbor, about six miles from the city. Its 
name is derived from a colossal stone elephant, 
dating from the tenth century, the remains of which 
are near a former landing. The sail across the bay 
was full of variety, and afforded an opportunity to 
see the antiquated native boats. Moored in the 
channel was one of the monster British troop-ships 
which convey the home contingent to and from 
India. 

The principal temple at Elephanta consists of a 
large main chamber and two lateral wings, all hewn 
out of the virgin porphyry rock in the hill-side. 
Massive pillars, crowned with fluted, cushion-like 
capitals, support the lofty ceiling. In the centre, 
at the end of the hall, is the Trimurti, or three- 
faced image of the Hindu Trinity, — Brahma, 



M,m^ssmf^m"-'^'*'''^m <r •■.■ nmm 




'^-^ 



lV. ■:* 






^ 



I w 



i 



SUBTERRANEAN TEMPLES. 75 

Vislinu, and Siva, — ^the Creator, the Preserver, and 
the Destroyer. These effigies are gigantic in size 
and immobile in countenance. 

At the side, in the central cavern, is an adytum 
containing the Ling stone, a low, cylindroid post 
with a rounded head. This is worshipped as a rep- 
resentation of Siva's power over nature. The walls 
of the temple are carved with archaic high reliefs, 
in panels, picturing the marriage of Siva and Par- 
vati ; Eavunu, the demon king of Ceylon, attempt- 
ing to steal Kylas, or the heavenly hill ; and other 
mythical subjects. 

The origin of these caves is unknown, but the}^ 
are supposed to have been executed between the 
eighth and twelfth centuries of our era. Many 
similar ones exist in different parts of the Penin- 
sula, particularly in the south. They are more 
imposing than the excavations at Beni-Hassan, but 
suffer when compared with the stupendous Tem- 
ple of Aboo-Simbel, the creation of the mighty 
Rameses. 



CHAPTER IV. 

ACEOSS INDIA BY EAIL. 

So we see that nations are changed by time ; they flourish and 
decay ; by turns command, and in their turns obey. — Ovid. 

So uncomfortable and oppressive was the weather 
in Bombay that it was a relief when the evening- 
came for our start inland. As few of the hotels in 
India supply more than the cTmrpoy, or native 
wooden bedstead, for sleeping, we provided our- 
selves with pillows and resais, — quilted coverlets. 
These, with the rugs we already had, made huge 
bundles, such as would excite a smile in Europe 
or America. Here everybody travels -^dth these 
comforters, and hence their bright colors and cum- 
brous bulk are not in the slightest conspicuous. 
On the road, too, they are indispensable for warmth, 
as the winter nights are piercingly cold on the vast 
plateau which stretches from the Ghauts, or coast 
range, to the Himalayas. 

As the distances are long and the pace slow, in 

traversing India many a night must be passed on 
76 



NATIVES TRAVELLING. 77 

the train. To meet the want which this creates, 
the first-class carriages, and most of the second, 
are furnished with seats like sofas, with a fold- 
ing, hanging couch above on each side. Every com- 
partment, for either four or six passengers, has a 
small toilet attached. An abundance of water is 
supplied, but no towels or soap. The latter, how- 
ever, is no deprivation after one becomes accus- 
tomed to the more cleanly habit of carrying those 
essentials. 

I wonder that some disciple of Frith has never 
pictured the scene in an Indian station before the 
departure of a train. Few studies could be more 
prolific of life, novelty, and action. It is babel, 
excitement, and din. The natives are fond of 
travel, and scores collect hours before they can 
hope to take their places. When the doors are 
opened they instantly crowd the long string of 
third-class carriages, hurrying to and fro with their 
effects, chattering, shouting, and wrangling. 

N^othing like work is ever done without noise, 
and upon so rare an occasion their lungs are taxed 
to the utmost. Frequently a dozen friends will 
come to say adieu to one person, and many throng 
the platforms from mere curiosity. To these 

8implej3reatures — for they are more like children 

7* 



78 ACROSS INDIA BY RAIL. 

than men and women — all that pertains to rail- 
roading is a toy of which they never tire. 

When a gharry arrives with sahibs, as Europeans 
are called, the coolies gather as "numerous as gnats 
upon the evening gleam." If permitted, three or 
four of these parasites will fasten themselves to 
each trunk, and as many more to the hand luggage. 
]^o matter how slight their claim may be, they 
follow a traveller with both palms extended, clamor- 
ing for baksheesh. They are rarely content with 
a tip, be it generous or otherwise. Reasoning with 
them is a waste of time, and forbearance almost a 
useless virtue. According to the experience of old 
Anglo-Indians, the average native respects only 
power and word of command. 

"We chose the new line to the interior, — the 
Bombay, Baroda, and Central India, — as it would 
enable us to visit a section recently opened to travel, 
and to avoid doubling upon our tracks for a con- 
siderable distance. Besides, the old route by Jub- 
bulpoor offers little of interest from Bombay to 
Allahabad, a sweep of nearly a thousand miles. 

The day was waning as the train passed through 
the pretty suburban railway stations, all twined 
with flowering vines, and along the shore by the 
blue waters, now glowing with the blazonry of 



THE CARRYING WOMEN OF SURAT. 79 

sunset. After dark we crossed a succession of 
bridges, some of notable length, which span the 
many rivers whose embouchures here indent the 
sea. Although we had glimpses of the Ghauts 
in the east, the landscape in general was of the 
monotonous jungle type. At midnight the train 
reached Surat, the cotton entrepot of India, where 
we alighted, hungry and dusty. 

Shrine of the mighty ! Is this the porter ? A 
woman ! First one, then two, three, four, grasped 
the luggage and bore it on their heads to the buffet, 
thoughtless of the uncovered busts which their 
elevated arms brought into bold relief. Two pairs 
of these shoeless Amazons went forward to the van 
and returned with our trunks, both as heavy as 
lead, upon their heads, yet without unusual exer- 
tion. We looked about for coolies, but none could 
be seen; we were in the territory of the stanch 
" carrying women" of Surat. 

The rooms at the station, which we had been 
recommended to occupy, were simply not to be 
endured; so we hired a two-wheeled bullock-cart, 
and trotted across the city to the dawk (travellers') 
bungalow, pleasantly located near the river Taptee, 
where we found tolerable quarters. 

Before we left our rooms next morning the 



80 ACROSS INDIA BY RAIL. 

" merchants" were peering into the windows, eager 
to sell the wood-work, inlaid with ivorj and metal, 
for which Surat is famous. After breakfast the 
manager of the bungalow, an educated native, or 
baboo, sent for a covered bullock-cart. The gharry- 
wallah, or driver, of this novel equipage proudly- 
declared that his team, a neat pair of dove-colored 
oxen, could beat any on the road. Be that as it 
may, we certainly had no reason to complain of the 
service they rendered us during the day. 

Surat is the capital of an extended collectorate, 
and shelters in itself above a hundred thousand 
inhabitants. Formerly the pilgrims from all parts 
of Hindustan embarked for Mecca at this port. 
The prosperity of the city caused it to fall a prey 
to the Portuguese early in the sixteenth century, 
and at the beginning of the seventeenth the first 
English factory was established. Soon after the 
Mogul Emperors granted the same privilege, first 
to the Dutch and then to the French. Less than a 
century ago Surat claimed a population of three- 
quarters of a million ; but repeated disastrous floods 
of the Taptee and a d'^structive conflagration in 
1837 have reduced it to its present estate. 

Cotton is the paramount interest of the section 
which recognizes Surat as its centre, and the city 




o 
< 

w 

S 

2; 



COTTON OPERATIVES. 81 

contains three or four manufactories of moderate 
capacity. We visited the mills of the Jafar Alee 
Spinning and Weaving Company, where the Scotch 
manager received us most hospitably and conducted 
us through every department without reserve. The 
product of the concern is chiefly unbleached cloths 
and sheeting. 

Although the process developed nothing that 
would be new to our home spinners, the hun- 
dreds of native operatives could not be classed 
in the same category. They comprised Hindus 
and Muslims of all ages and both sexes. Many 
are skilled at their tasks, as the manager proved 
by breaking threads and in other ways requiring 
nimble fingers to remedy disorder. Labor is com- 
pensated by the piece, at extremely low rates. 
Work as she will, a woman cannot earn above five 
annas (about fourteen cents) a day, and the best 
loom hand not more than eight, or less than a 
" quarter." Think of it, ye thrice-blessed toilers 
of America, and be content. 

The unassuming Scotchman frankly admitted 
that Surat cottons would not compare with the finer 
grades of American growth, nor could they compete 
with ours in the London market. During the Ee- 
bellion, when the Southern ports were blockaded, 
/ 



82 ACROSS INDIA BY RAIL. 

the cultivation of cotton and its manufacture re- 
ceived an undue_impetus in "Western India. An 
immense area was planted, mills were built, and 
speculation became rampant. When Richmond 
fell a panic ensued. Cotton property collapsed, 
enterprises were wrecked, and traffic stagnated. 
"Wealthy Anglo-Indians and the Parsee capitalists 
of Bombay were the principal sufferers. A partial 
revival has since occurred, placing the trade on a 
normal basis and enabling several of the factories 
to resume work at a profit. 

The bazaars of Surat proved commonplace, and 
we saw little that was striking in architecture, ex- 
cepting perhaps the sombre Castle. One curious 
sight, however, was an old English cemetery, with 
many quaint epitaphs and a cluster of mausoleums 
designed like mosques and heathen temples. Here 
is an example of one of the inscriptions : 

"In memory of Mary Price, wife of "William Price, Esq., 
chief for affairs of the British Nation, and Governor of the Mo- 
gul Castle and fleet of Surat, who, through the spotted veil of 
the small-pox, rendered a pure and unspotted soul to God, expe- 
riencing death, which ended her days April the 13th. Anno Dom- 
ini 1761. JEtatis Suaa 23. 

" The virtues which in her short life were shown 
Have equal'd been by few, surpass'd by none." 

Another relates that the departed " went unmar- 



A WEDDING PROCESSION. 83 

ried to the heavenly nuptials, in the year of Christ, 
1649," and in a third instance a tablet records the 
span of a very brief life : 

" Here lies the body of the infant child of Major Charles and 
Martha Frederick, born at 10 o'clock at night on the 29 of Sep- 
tember 1786 and died at 3 o'clock the next morning, God rest her 
soul." 

During the afternoon, while in the bazaars, we 
met a long procession headed by a portion of the 
garrison band, together with men and boys playing 
reed instruments and beating drums in shrill dis- 
cord. After them came a string of people of both 
sexes, arrayed in holiday attire ; and following these 
a troupe of singers preceded the bearers of banners 
and shrines lavishly decked with tinsel. Succeed- 
ing this group was a boy, gaudily dressed and 
numerously attended, riding a pony caparisoned 
in the most extravagant manner. The remainder 
of the line consisted of carriages of every style, 
and most of them without occupants. This noisy 
pageant, we learned, was a part of the festivities 
of a Hindu wedding. 

"While driving across the city the previous night 
we had noticed an illumination in one of the larger 
houses, although the hour was so late. This proved 



84 ACROSS INDIA BY RAIL. 

to be the residence of the two brides, the sister 
daughters of " a rich Hindu with twenty thousand 
rupees (about eight thousand five hundred dollars, 
nominally ten thousand dollars) a year," The girls 
were respectively about seven and eight years of 
age, and the bridegrooms slightly their seniors. 
After the conclusion of the festival, which may 
continue for a week, the wedded couple return 
separately to their parents' homes, there to abide 
until puberty. Then the husband, a boy of thirteen 
or fourteen years, goes in gaudy state to claim his 
wife. 

The nuptial ceremony of the Hindus is per- 
formed by one or more Brahmins, and is very 
tedious, occupying several hours. It concludes by 
joining the hands of the affianced with a sacred 
cord, and repeating certain texts. These childish 
marriages are, of course, arranged by the parents ; 
and lacking, as they do, the cardinal principle of 
free and mature choice, they frequently lead to 
anything but happiness. Large sums are expended 
upon the lengthy fete by which this social event is 
celebrated, every man striving according to his 
means to outdo his townsmen. 

In the evening, after dinner, the manager of the 
bungalow sent for a bevy of llTautch girls, who came 



DANCING GIRLS. 85 

accompanied by two musicians. Strangely enough, 
two of them proved to be members of a band 
lately exhibited in ISTew York. Having been told 
that they were to appear before American sahibs, 
they brought photographs of themselves by metro- 
politan artists, which they handed us with great 
delight. "With the baboo as interpreter, we heard 
the story of their experiences in the New World. 
The cold winter had caused them much suffering, 
and one of their number died. They earned com- 
paratively little, having contracted for only a small 
monthly stipend; but the more experienced lessees 
had profited by their services. 

Having donned their finery in a rear apartment, 
the entertainment began. The costume, which 
concealed the entire figure, was of light materials 
in various colors and much ornamented mth gold 
lace. Jingling anklets of silver, bracelets, and 
rings in the ears and nose constituted the jewelry. 
The dance, if such it can be called, was as disap- 
pointing as that of the Egyptian Ghawazee; and 
the songs by which it is accompanied were shrill 
and monotonous. The movements are simply a 
series of postures, repeated over and over again. 

After the fantasia one of the group prepared the 
leaf and nut of the betel, with lime and spices, and 



86 ACROSS INDIA BY RAIL. 

invited us to chew one. This we were obliged to 
decline, much to their regret. The youngest of the 
girls had some pretensions to beauty, which proba- 
bly led to the adoption of her degrading profession, 
for the JSTautch girls are the lost ones of India. 

Everywhere on the streets of Surat, as in other 
cities, the sepoys, or native police and soldiers, 
were perpetually saluting us a la militaire. This 
mark of deference to European sahibs is not un- 
common throughout India, but our taut patrol 
jackets of duck and white helmets, likening us to 
British officers, caused a perceptible increase of 
the attention. Often squads on duty, at gates or 
police stations, seized their pieces and formed to 
present as our carriage passed. Guards before 
government buildings and sentries on the parapets 
rarely omitted to bring the musket to a shoulder, 
and galloping cavalrymen held themselves erect 
and stretched out the arm and hand from the 
saddle. 

At first it was a novel and amusing duty to 
respond to these salutations twenty or thirty times 
a day, but later I carried my hand to the helmet 
like a veteran of the Mutiny. And if an occasional 
high private neglected this recognition of my 
mystic rank, I quenched any slight irritation by 



EXCESSIVE HUMILITY. 87 

the thought that the heathen's training was sadly 
deficient. 

This ostentatious reverence for Europeans is also 
displayed by the mass of the people, — in the bazaars, 
on the highways, and about the hotels. Servants 
coiled upon the floors of the corridors or on the 
porches rose to salaam, almost bending double, 
as we approached. When we drove, our Jehus 
impudently demanded, and were meekly granted, 
the right of way by wagons of burden, heavily- 
laden elephants, camels, or oxen, no matter in 
which direction we might be proceeding. On the 
streets or in the shops old men and young, women, 
and even little children, bowed the head and 
crooked the back in token of inferiority. 

But I have no faith in the sincerity of this willing 
abasement; it is the treacherous humility which 
" licks yet loathes the hand that waves the sword." 
Perhaps the future will explain the growing power 
of the Caucasian in Asia by the stern law of the 
survival of the fittest; by a repetition of the plain- } 
tive history of the American Indian. 

We arrived in Surat at midnight, and took our 
departure at the same uncomfortable hour. When 
our bullock-cart reached the station the tireless 
" carrying women" again took our weighty trunks 



88 ACROSS INDIA BY RAIL. 

upon their heads, and bore tlaem up a flight of steps 
to the platform. "We walked almost beside them, 
encumbered only with a sun umbrella. 

An anomaly indeed; but in many things the East 
reverses the manners and customs of the "West. 
In the former men remove their shoes instead of 
the head-covering when entering houses and holy 
places; women suspend their ear-rings from the 
top of the ear; Persian- Arabic is read back:v\^ard, 
from the last to the first page of a book. We are 
enjoined to keep the head cool and the feet warm; 
but the Oriental wraps his precious cranium with 
twenty or thirty yards of muslin, and goes without 
a rag from the knee downwards. If a man and his 
wife journey to the city with one beast, he gallantly 
rides, while she dutifully trudges in the rear with 
the baby or a great bundle. 

"We crossed the river ISTerbudda by a bridge 
nearly a mile long, and hurried through Broach 
without halting for the sport we were recommended 
to enjoy there. Our English cousins are wedded 
to the shot-gun and the rifle, and many of them 
come to India and travel about the world mainly 
"to do a bit of shooting." Early in the morning 
we had cofiee at Baroda, and went on to Ahmedabad 
for breakfast. We afterwards regretted not having 



THE SONS OF KINGS. 89 

spent a day at the latter city, once the metropolis 
of "Western India. It possesses the finest example 
of pierced marble screen-work to be found in the 
Peninsula, and several pieces of architecture much 
extolled by Fergusson. 

After passing Mount Aboo, the seat of a group of 
Jain shrines, we saw numbers of wild monkeys, or 
apes, and myriads of birds, large and small. Ajmere 
was lost to view in the darkness, and daylight was 
upon us before we alighted at Jeypore, our destina- 
tion. The trap which conveyed us from the station 
to the travellers' bungalow was a marvel, — the 
shrunken ponies, the narrow box on wheels, and 
the skeleton driver. When it started on a gallop 
everything rattled and creaked, and a crash threat- 
ened at every moment. The trunks on top added 
to the general unsteadiness, yet a corner was turned 
so recklessly that we barely escaped upsetting. It 
was no little relief to be landed at our quarters with- 
out accident, where we firmly declined a proffer of 
the same conveyance to see the city. 

The Eajpoots^ literally the " sons of kings," are 
a martial people, and proudly claim to be descend- 
ants of the ancient royal Kshatriyas, or warrior 
caste of India. Their province, Rajpootana, which 
is now under British protection, is divided into 

8* 



90 ACROSS INDIA BY RAIL. 

eighteen principalities, each having its own ruler 
and many lesser chieftains. Jeypore, the capital of 
one of these modest States, is picturesque and essen- 
tially of Indian aspect, yet it bears the marks of the 
progressive character of its princes. Until early in 
the last century the seat of government was at 
Ambher, four miles from Jeypore ; but owing to a 
prophecy of the Brahmins, that it would bring dis- 
aster if his line reigned more than a thousand years 
in one place, the superstitious Rajah Jey Sing built 
the present city and removed his court. 

Having yielded to the priestly fiction, the other- 
wise sensible monarch determined that his new 
capital should be a model in design and construc- 
tion. As a result, we see broad streets, intersecting 
at right angles, regular blocks of houses, open 
squares, and a grand public garden. His successors, 
not less modern in their secular ideas, have im- 
proved the drainage, introduced gas, beautified the 
garden, and added the water-works. Among the 
municipal institutions are a college, library, museum, 
and school of arts. We were conducted through 
the last named, and found much entertainment in 
watching the artisans engaged upon objects for an 
exhibition at Calcutta. 

Although Jeypore combines the elements of a 



A Maharajah's courtesy. 91 

striking picture, its architecture is somewhat mo- 
notonous and seldom imposing. Its defect arises 
from too great a similarity of outline, the absence 
of lofty structures, and the universal use of pink 
distemper for mural ornament. The palace stands 
nearly in the centre of the city, and, with its gar- 
dens, covers about one-seventh of the space within 
the walls. 

Excepting the Hall of Audience, or throne 
room, which is of marble, and a curious astronom- 
ical observatory, there is little of note about this 
tawdry pile. Adjacent to it, and fronting on a wide 
avenue, is a whimsical summer residence known as 
the Palace of the Winds. The pink fa9ade is a 
mass of miniature bay-windows, glazed mth small 
panes, — a faint suggestion of the Palace Hotel of 
San Francisco. 

In the same vicinity are the royal stables, an im- 
mense quadrangle of sheds with a commanding 
tower attached. Here we had the pleasure of seeing 
the youthful Maharajah, M^ho was seated upon a dais 
and giving directions about the harness and car- 
riages which had been brought for his inspection. 
Owing to the presence of the sovereign, the gate- 
keeper had denied us admission to the enclosure ; 
but at the suggestion of the guide we sent our cards 



92 ACROSS INDIA BY RAIL. 

to the Maharajah, who courteously invited us to 
enter. As we passed near where he sat he saluted 
us politely. The official who attended us stated 
that the stahles contain three hundred horses, chiefly 
Persian and Arabian stock. In addition to the 
halter, it is customary to secure a horse with a rope 
to each heel. 

The main thoroughfare of the city, extending 
fi-oni the Gate of the Moon to the Gate of the Sun, 
is a kaleidoscope of Indian life. Both sides are 
flanked with the usual diminutive Oriental shops, 
raised about a yard above the ground and shaded 
by little awnings. Natives of all castes, and rarely 
a European, throng the innovating pavements, 
many with swords at the waist and shields strapped 
low down the back, or with long matchlocks slung 
over the shoulder. The rich dyes of Rajpootana 
are displayed in the costumes met at every step; 
the wearers flitting hither and thither, or standing 
in knots, or sitting upon the floors of their busi- 
ness places. 

In the dusty streetway huge elephants lumber 
along, spirited stallions gallop past, gharries dash 
up and down, coolies plod by with palankeens, and 
strings of camels wend their way through the 
maze. Among the concourse we may distinguish a 



PARTIES TO A BARGAIN. 93 

mounted Thakur, or nobleman from the districts, 
accompanied by his barbaric men-at-arms. Order 
prevails, and the people are peacefully following 
their pursuits. 

Wherever we alighted from the carriage groups 
of annoying but respectful natives collected, brim- 
ming with curiosity to see us bargaining for Raj- 
poot weapons, indigenous garnets and carbuncles, 
or spangled slippers with curled toes. When the 
difterence between the buyer and the seller ren- 
dered a trade doubtful, these grown children, un- 
able to refrain, interposed their advice and chat- 
tered with the zeal of an interested party. At this 
juncture the guide would sharply command the 
whole assemblage to leave, whereupon they meekly 
dispersed, like a canine with his expressive append- ' 
age in the attitude of bodily fear. 

Led by the baboo, we penetrated a narrow, re- 
pulsive alley and entered the wretched dens where 
the Hindu gods are carved in marble. This in- 
dustry is one of the specialties of Jeypore, and 
considerable archaic skill is evinced in the work- 
manship. In addition to small specimens of the 
deities, we bought effective models of elephants 
bearing finely-colored howdahs, and little figures 
in hard black stone. 



94 ACROSS INDIA BY RAIL. 

"We gave an afternoon to Ambher, the deserted 
capital, and drove slowly among its decaying build- 
ings. Many are yet in a fair state of preservation. 
The city is located in a valley surrounded on all 
sides by rocky hills. 

At the foot of the road leading to the Citadel 
we found one of the Maharajah's elephants, which 
had been kindly placed at our disposal by pre- 
vious appointment. At a signal from his driver, 
who was perched upon his neck, the mighty beast 
went down on his knees, and then, by means of a 
ladder, we climbed to the howdah on his back. 
When he rose the sensation was not one of abso- 
lute security, but we managed to retain our places 
through the unsettling movement, and off he 
marched. Despite his formidable proportions he 
proved steady and docile, depositing us safely at 
our elevated destination in less than an hour. 

The view from the Citadel up the valley, over- 
looking a lake, the temples and mosques of the city, 
and the beautiful landscape beyond, alone repaid 
for the expedition. We wandered through the 
vast, uninhabited palace, but discovered nothing 
specially attractive, except a few examples of per- 
forated marble screens and the glass apartments. 
The walls and ceilings of the latter are veneered 



DOOMED TO RUIN. 95 

with thousands of small mirrors, arrayed in a va- 
riety of designs. 

Destruction hovers over temple and citadel, pal- 
ace and city, certain of its prey. Superstition, 
under the guise of religion, has doomed all this fair 
creation to deliberate waste; but the IlTemesis of 
!N'ature's offended laws is already visiting the gen- 
erations of those guilty of this prodigal crime. 



CHAPTER V. 

CITIES OF THE MOGULS. 

High lifted up were many lofty towers, 

And goodly galleries far over laid, 

Full of fair windows and delightful bowers. 

Spenser. 

One sweep to the northeast from Jeypore brought 
us to Delhi, the capital of the extinct Mogul Em- 
pire, the Mecca of the East. What a train of 
thought is suggested by its very name ! "With a 
history dating back to the mythical period of the 
early Aryans, it was destroyed seven times and as 
often rose again to dominion and grandeur. 

Here the Pathans of Ghuzni, under Mohammed 

Ghory, founded (a.d. 1193) the Muslim empire of 

India ; and two centuries later (1398) the ruthless 

Tamerlane came with his fanatical hordes to burn, 

plunder, and drench the streets with blood, l^ext 

the Sultan Baber, the descendant of Zinghis Klian 

and Tamerlane, crossed the Indus and established 

the Mogul throne (1626) in the conquered city. 
96 



THE GREAT MOGULS. 97 

This memorable dynasty " continued to flourish 
with only one interruption, and with increasing 
lustre, for a hundred and eighty years, under a suc- 
cession unprecedented in Indian history, of six 
sovereigns, distinguished by their gallantry in the 
field, and, with one exception, by their ability in 
the cabinet." 

This galaxy of successful, though cruelly rapacious 
and utterly unprincipled rulers, consists of Baber, 
Humayoon, Akbar, Jehangeer, Shah Jehan, and 
Aurungzebe. About these names cluster the relics 
of the power and splendor of the Great Moguls, 
the superb monuments of dazzling extravagance by 
which travellers are chiefly drawn to the imperial 
seats of Delhi and Agra. 

Modern Delhi is the work of the Emperor Shah 
Jehan (1627-1658), a monarch celebrated for the 
splendor of his tastes, for the order of his finances, 
and I or his love of building. As the new city ap- 
proached completion he left Agra, whither the 
great Akbar had removed his court, and Delhi 
again became the Mogul capital. 

The Fort, or citadel, — which contains the palace, 
now partly destroyed, the exquisite marble gem 
known as the Pearl Mosque, the luxurious baths, 
and the lavish pavilions of state, — is the finest in 

■& g 9 



98 CITIES OF THE MOGULS. 

India. Its gateways are in themselves imposing 
structures, and tlae lofty castellated walls of red 
sandstone describe a circuit of more than a mile. 
"Within the enclosure of the city are the famous 
Shalimar Gardens, now called the Queen's, beyond 
which the inmates of the zenana, or harem, never 
passed. 

The culmination of all this magnificence is 
reached in the Dewan-i-Khas, or Hall of Private 
Audience, which overlooks the river Jumna and 
the plain. This edifice is of marble, open at the 
sides and supported by massive square columns, 
the whole being adorned with mosaics of costly 
stones and inlaid gold. Adjoining it are the |)ri- 
vate apartments of the sovereign, where the pierced 
marble screens, wrought in floral designs, are of 
startling richness. 

In this hall stood the renowned Peacock Throne, 
which was plundered by the Persians, a mass of 
solid gold flanked by two peacocks, with distended 
tails, all studded with diamonds and rubies, sap- 
phires, emeralds, and pearls. The value of this 
wonder was estimated at six crores, or sixty millions 
of rupees, nominally thirty million dollars. On the 
cornices of the marble platform which bore the 
throne is the Persian inscription which Thomas 



'■•' ' ■ '[^f? ■ ■ 




CAREER OF A DESPOT. 99 

Moore introduced so effectively in " The Light of 
the Harem" : 

" If there be an Elysium on earth, 
It is this, it is this." 

Shah Jehan was not long permitted to enjoy the 
grandeur he had created. During an illness which 
brought him to the point of death, his four sons 
became involved in a bitter conflict for the succes- 
sion ; and so far had it been carried by the time 
of his recovery that he was unable to resume his 
authority. The bold and subtle Aurungzebe over- 
powered all resistance, dethroned his father, and 
imprisoned the fallen monarch in the fort at Agra. 
There he spent the remaining seven years of his 
life, within sight of that sublime mausoleum, the 
Taj, which he had reared to the memory of the 
adored wife of his youth. 

Despite this heartless act, to which he added the 
death of his brothers, Aurungzebe lived to reign 
almost half a century (1658-1707), and to wage a 
war of intolerance for twenty-five years. But the 
close of his career was tortured by suspicion, 
gloom, and remorse, and after his death the strained 
empire began to decline. 

Lalla Rookh was the daughter of this cruel 



71 / 



100 CITIES OF THE MOGULS. 

prince, and it was from the gate of the Fort already 
noticed that she set out upon the journey to meet 
her friture husband in the Vale of Cashmere. 

The day of her "departure from Delhi was 
as splendid as sunshine and pageantry could make 
it. The bazaars and baths were all covered with 
the richest tapestry, hundreds of gilded barges 
upon the Jumna floated with their banners shining 
in the water, while through the streets groups of 
beautiftil children went strewing the most delicious 
flowers around ; and as Aurungzebe stood to take 
a last look from his balcony, the procession moved 
slowly on the road to Lahore." 

Although Ireland's " sweetest lyrist" nevervisited 
the East, the scene he pictures may have been en- 
acted at Delhi a century before his generation. But 
if his studies of forgotten writers have not prompted 
him to exaggerate, as in many instances, how com- 
pletely has everything changed! ITot a shred of 
the pomp he sketches is now to be seen. 

Even the Chadney Chook, the once famous 
thoroughfare and bazaar, has lost its lustre, and 
apparently every honest merchant it ever possessed. 
Mendacity is there a commercial virtue and cheating 
legitimate business tact. Taking them as a class, 
they are the most treacherous body of traders we 



FAMOUS WARES OF DELHI. 101 

ever encountered. In view of these characteristics, 
our shopping was done with the greatest difficulty. 
At the hotel, a wretched hostelry, and in the 
Chadney Chook, travellers are constantly annoyed 
by having cards thrust at them, accompanied with 
pressing invitations to call. 

Conspicuous among the wares thus so diligently 
offered are cashmere or " India" shawls, and white 
Eampoor chudders, a similar wrap for head and 
body. The latter are made of the fine wool of the 
Himalaya goat, and often so delicate and sheer that 
they can be drawn through a finger-ring. Gold 
and silver embroidery is also a specialty of Delhi, 
as well as miniatures painted on ivory, and Indian 
jewelry of the usual barbaric designs. 

While the Chadney Chook has parted with its 
former glitter, there is much in its present throng 
of life to attract the searcher after novelties. Pic- 
ture, for instance, a semi-European carriage bearing 
four servants in gaudy Oriental livery and drawn by 
a pair of trotting dromedaries. The ordinary con- 
veyance is the picturesque little halt, an ox-cart 
famished with a cushion and a red canopy, under 
which the higher-grade native female coils herself, 
secure from the public gaze. Another common 

vehicle is a simple board, sometimes with a covering 

9* 



102 CITIES OF THE MOGULS. 

overhead, slung by four ropes to a pole and borne 
by two coolies. 

The last vague shadow of the Mogul dynasty, 

"That saintly, murderous brood, 
To carnage and the Koran given," 

vanished in the great Sepoy Mutiny (1857); but 
Delhi is yet the revered centre of the forty mil- 
lions of Muslims in India. Their cathedral mosque, 
the Jumna Musjid, is the most imposing religious 
edifice in the Peninsula. It is built of red stone 
and stands on an elevated terrace, approached by a 
lofty flight of steps. Upon passing any of the 
three gates we enter an immense paved quadrangle, 
with a marble reservoir in the middle, and sur- 
rounded by a cloistered colonnade. 

The mosque itself, on the western side of the 
enclosure, is surmounted by three bulbous domes 
of white marble, flanked by two high minarets 
constructed of alternate vertical stripes of marble 
and red sandstone. " The whole," says Fergusson, 
" forms a group intelligible at the first glance, and, 
as an architectural object, possesses a variety of 
outline and play of light and shade which few 
buildings can equal." 

Bent upon learning something of another Indian 




^^<^..^^WA:.mr...^ 



THE STORMING OF DELHI. 103 

. faith, we followed our guide through a net-work of 
unsavory alleys to the Jain Temple. This shrine, 
although not large, is richly decorated with gold- 
work and intricate carvings in wood and in marble. 
The creed of the Jainas is a composition of the 
Buddhist and Brahmin, accepting and denying por- 
tions of both, but inclining to the former. This 
sect is believed to have taken its origin in the sixth 
or seventh century of our era, and a hundred years 
later it had numerous followers ; but since then its 
influence has slowly declined. 

Delhi is marked with many interesting reminis- 
cences of the famed Mutiny. The insurrection first 
broke out at Meerut, only thirty miles distant, at 
which point all Europeans of both sexes were mas- 
sacred. Thence the tide of fanaticism and slaugh- 
ter surged along the road to Delhi, where the un- 
suspecting victims fell an easy prey. The faithful 
guards at the Magazine, under a brave lieutenant, 
rather than surrender their charge, applied the 
match and blew themselves to atoms. During the 
reeking heat of the summer monsoon the avenging 
army came ; hundreds of outraged English to op- 
pose thousands of mutineers. 

Early in the fall the heroic band was reinforced, 
and then, seven thousand strong, including loyal 



104 CITIES OF THE MOGULS. 

natives, they assaulted the walled city, desperately 
held by a force outnumbering their own tenfold. 
After five days of incessant battering from fifty 
guns, two breaches were effected ; but it was also 
deemed necessary to mine one of the gates. A 
perilous task, indeed, in the face of a murderous 
fire. But a fearless little party stood ready for the 
work. At daylight they sprang from their lairs 
with bags of powder, darted across the moat, and 
laid them by the Cashmere Gate. Some" fell by 
the way, but enough succeeded in the daring at- 
tempt. 

Then the fase had to be lighted. One by one 
they dropped, but the torch advanced. At last the 
fuse burned, and in a moment the massive gate 
lay shattered by the explosion. Then the bugle 
sounded, and with a cheer the storming party 
dashed into the city, winning their way to the pal- 
ace by the bayonet. A victory was won, but with 
the gallant young commanding general numbered 
among the slain. The authority of the government 
was restored, the traitorous old king dethroned 
and exiled, and his brutal sons were shot before 
their followers in the Chadney Chook. So fitly 
ended the Mogul dynasty. 

Delhi has now less than two hundred thousand 




THE KOOTUB MINAR, OLD DELHI. 



THE ETERNAL LAW OF NATIONS. 105 

population, but it once had almost two millions. 
The remains of the cities which preceded the pres- 
ent one are strewn in profusion over the neighbor- 
ing plain, covering a distance of nearly sixty square 
miles. Temples and mosques, tombs and palaces, 
walls and forts, are here crumbling and falling, 
unheeded and deserted. 

In the midst of this decay is the magnificent 
Kootub Minar, the loftiest independent tower on 
the globe, excepting the "Washington Monument. 
Although it has stood nearly seven hundred years, 
time has scarcely marred this noble achievement 
of Pathan architecture, unquestionably one of the 
wonders of the mediaeval world. It far surpasses 
either the Campanile of Florence or the Giralda 
of Seville ; while the tower of the Kremlin, prob- 
ably the highest in Europe, is unworthy of com- 
parison, because of its inferior construction. 

We spent two days in exploring this vast area of 

ruins, and marvelled at the infinite waste which 

man has committed in the name of religion and 

through vain efforts to perpetuate his own memory. 

The moral of this sumptuous wreck, the fabrics of; 

wealth wrung fi'om the poor, is written in the! 

eternal law of nations that the era of luxury is the 

i 
herald of decline. A conquered race, dragging out' 



106 CITIES OF THE MOGULS. 

a most abject existence, peoples this land of fabled 
riches; and the vacant thrones of the tyrant Moguls, 
symbols of a " Paradise lost," stand in the gorgeous 
halls of state waiting for Old Mortality to inscribe 
them with the words of Milton, — 

" They themselves ordained their fall." 

As we rolled away from Delhi and crossed the 
Jumna bridge, the young crescent faintly illumi- 
nated the snowy domes of the immaculate Pearl 
Mosque. In the distance we could distinguish the 
tall memorial column on the commanding ridge 
from which British guns thundered their demand to 
the mutineers to yield the stolen city. "When the 
train halted for a moment on the bridge we caught 
the martial notes of the English bugler within the 
embattled citadel of the splendor-loving Shah Jehan. 
The exquisite marble balcony, in which the Great 
Moguls sat to review their legions, was vacant, and 
the parade plain beneath as silent and peaceful as 
the shallow, winding Jumna. 

i " The moon of Mahomet 

is Arose, and it shall set ; 
I While blazoned as on heaven's immortal noon 
,| . The cross leads generations on. " 

At the Ghazeeabad junction, a short run from 
Delhi, we joined the main line, which extends from 



KINGDOM OF THE FIVE WATERS. 107 

Calcutta almost to Peshawur, — a sweep of fifteen 
hundred miles. Heading northward, with Lahore 
as our destination, soon after midnight I heard the 
station hands announce Meerut, where the outbreak 
of the Mutiny occurred (Sunday, May 10, 1857), 
under circumstances not unlike those of the Sicilian 
Vespers, exclusive of the question of justice. 

Early the next morning we had our first glimpse 
of the Himalayas from Umballa, which is the point 
of departure for Simla, the summer capital of India. 
But we entertained no thought of breaking our 
journey here, as we had in anticipation a trip to 
Darjeeling, due north of Calcutta, where the sub- 
limest of the " hill" scenery is in view, including 
the highest mountain of the world. 

Towards noon we crossed the Sutlej by a fine 
bridge and entered the Punjaub, the Kingdom of 
the Five "Waters, so called, in Persian, fi-om its posi- 
tion among the affluents which unite as the Indus. 
This extensive territory, the most northerly prov- 
ince of British India, stretches to the fi-ontiers of 
Cashmere and Afghanistan, and shelters twenty- 
three millions of people. It was annexed to the 
East India Company's dominions in 1849, as a 
result of the unprovoked aggression of the warlike 
Sikhs. 



108 CITIES OF THE MOGULS. 

Among the spoils was the Koh-i-noor diamond, 
which was presented to Queen Victoria, to be 
her personal property. The father of the fallen 
Maharajah, Runjeet Sing, robbed the Afghans of 
the famous gem, and they in their turn had stolen 
it from the diadem of the Great Moguls at the sack 
of Delhi. 

Our train reached Umritsur during the afternoon, 
but having arranged to visit that place while return- 
ing southward, we proceeded to Lahore, arriving 
there just as " the glow of heaven" was descending 
upon the land. 

The rascal that drove us from the railway to our 
quarter in the " civil station" dashed along at so 
reckless a pace that the venerable gharry threat- 
ened a dissolving view. We shouted to him, but 
it was not his purpose to hear until he had whipped 
the lean horses into the compound of a second- 
class hotel, where the proprietor offers a bounty of 
eight annas (twenty-two cents) for every traveller. 
After some determined persuasion, in the presence 
of the servants of the hostelry, he was induced to 
take us as originally ordered. We presented our 
introduction, for the house was neither a hotel nor 
a public bungalow, and received a cordial welcome. 
There we found that homelike comfort which had 



WATCHWORD OF THE ANGLO-INDIAN. 109 

scarcely once greeted us since we left our pretty 
cliS.telet by the Loire. 

" The house is built on Mohammedan graves," 
said our host; "you can easily find a skeleton by 
digging for a few minutes back of the house. 
They buried about here until within twenty years." 
Yet this is now the choicest section of Lahore. 
The residences are more of the English style, and 
the gardens finer than any we had seen in India. 
There was the aspect of living rather than of only 
staying. The opposite is usually the case in an 
Indian station. Civil and military officers mostly 
comprise the residents — men liable to be transferred 
elsewhere. Hence they do little to beautify their 
temporary abodes. 

Others hope or believe their stay in India will be 
brief, even though it may have already reached 
years. Home is the watch-word of all, however 
improbable its attainment. Lord Macaulay, who 
was a member of the Supreme Council in 1833, 
declared that an humble lodging in London was 
better than a palace at Calcutta. 

Thousands of Britons are unconsciously serving 
the Empress-Queen like the Mitimaes of the Incas, 
who forsook home and its ties to control and teach 
the people of conquered provinces. l!Tot less than 

10 



110 CITIES OF THE MOGULS. 

the Anglo-Indians, tlie need of a protecting arm 
against tlie subjugated natives insured the loyaltj" 
of the exiled Children of the Sun to the line of 
Manco Capac and the mother-country. 

Some gratify their longing for England, where 
they experience the sensation of being strangers 
* among their own people, and find the climate un- 
suited to Indianized constitutions. Accustomed, as 
they have probably been, to having an " establish- 
ment," with obsequious servants, which even a 
slender purse may command in India, they find 
.themselves unnoticed in the London world of busy 
men, wealth, and titles. 

" At last I began to long for my native country," 
relates Imlac, in Dr. Johnson's " Rasselas," " that 
I might repose, after my travels and fatigues, in 
the places where I had spent my earliest years, and 
gladden my old companions with the recital of 
my adventures. ... I now (having arrived home) 
expected the caresses of my kinsman and the 
congratulations of my Mends, . . . but I was soon 
convinced that my thoughts were vain. ... Of 
my companions the greater part was in the grave ; 
of the rest, some could with difficulty remember 
me, and some considered me as one corrupted by 
foreign manners." > 



AN UNROMANTIC ROMANCE. Ill 

Lahore, the present capital of the Punjaub, holds 
an important place in Mogul history, and the plain 
which surrounds it, like that of Delhi, is marked 
with the ruins of its departed greatness. It was 
the chosen residence of the Emperor Jehangeer, 
whose splendid mausoleum, richly decorated with 
mosaics, stands on the opposite bank of the river 
Ravee from the city. Before his accession to the 
throne this prince was called Selim, the name under 
which he appears in " Lalla Rookh," as the estranged 
lover of ISToor Mahal, the " Light of the Harem." 
But history presents a different story of this couple 
from that woven by the poet's fancy. 

Jehangeer, who was a drunkard and of cruel in- 
stincts, already had four wives when he fell in 
love with the beautiful Koor Mahal. She was the 
daughter of a Persian adventurer named Itmad- 
ood-Dowlah, who afterwards became Prime Min- 
ister of the Empire. The great Akbar, father of 
the Prince, interfered and despatched the girl to 
Bengal, where she married one Sher Ufgun. 

"When Akbar died, Jehangeer sent for the object 
of his affection. Her husband naturally objected to 
the transfer, so he was put to the sword to remove 
the difficulty. The lady was then brought to Agra, 
where the Emperor awaited her; but she indig- 



112 CITIES OF THE MOGULS. 

nantly refused his advances. This was the " some- 
thing light as air" which Moore, with rosy imagi- 
nation, has transformed into a mere lovers' tifl", 
upon the occasion of the Feast of Roses, in the 
Shalimar Gardens of Cashmere. 

The lady's ambition, however, shortly allayed 
her scornfal anger, and obscured the memory of 
her murdered husband. She wedded the sangui- 
nary suitor, and was raised to the throne as the 
favorite Empress. At this time she was a woman 
of middle age. In addition to these realisms, the 
veil of romance in which Moore has enveloped her 
is farther rent by the fact that she was a virago, 
and given to unscrupulous political intrigue. 

On the other hand, it must be stated that hus- 
band and wife were very devotedly attached to 
each other. When the Emperor died he was 
profoundly mourned by ISToor Mahal, who reared 
the costly tomb in which she was afterwards laid 
by his side. 

The native quarter of Lahore resembles all others, 
except that it appears to be lower in the moral 
scale. In the Anarkalli Bazaar, which is the prin- 
cipal street, there is considerable animation, and a 
fair display of lacquered ware, silks, and shawls 
embroidered with gold and silver. Afghan weapons 



TRANSFER OF A KINGDOM. 113 

have been in demand by the collectors of curios 
since the recent war; but the supply is about 
exhausted. Good specimens of Sikh arms may yet 
be found, as a rule well finished and graceful in 
design. 

The Sikhs are taller and more athletic in build 
than their puny brethren of Bengal and the South. 
Under the leadership of Runjeet Sing, the " Lion 
of the Punjaub," their soldierly qualities made 
them masters over the whole territory of the Five 
Waters, with Cashmere and the Derajat. 

After the valiant Lion's death (1839), the result 
of his sensual excesses, their passion for invasion 
and plunder led the Sikhs to measure swords with 
British power. They fought with desperate cour- 
age, but the war ended in the loss of their independ- 
ence. The boyish Maharajah, a lad of eleven years, 
took his seat for the last time on his father's throne, 
and, in the presence of his court, executed the deed 
which transferred his kingdom to the East India 
Company. By this act he secured an annuity of 
five lacs, or half a million, of rupees. 

The young Prince was sent to be educated in 
England, where he accepted Christianity and con- 
tinues to reside. A romantic story is told of his 

choice of a bride. While passing through Cairo, 
h 10* 



114 CITIES OF THE MOGULS. 

on a journey to India with the body of his mother, 
he saw a girl in the American Mission school who 
so impressed him that he proposed marriage. Upon 
his return they were united, and have since lived 
happily in their adopted home. 

Lahore has a Mogul fort, not unlike the one at 
Delhi, but smaller and of inferior construction. 
Close to the gates of the fortress, within the walls, 
is the marble tomb of Runjeet Sing. Lying near 
him are his wives and concubines, some of whom 
are said to have burned themselves on his funeral 
pyre. The mosques and tombs about the city, as 
well as the palace in the citadel, are of secondary 
interest. But we find among the remains of its 
former splendor traces of those "mausoleums and 
shrines, magnificent and numberless, where Death 
seemed to share equal honors with Heaven." 

One relic of that storied past yet exists in all its 
luxurious beauty. Shah Jehan's House of Joy, the 
Shalimar Gardens. We wandered through the 
orange groves and erotic retreats of this elysium, 
picturing in our imagination the days of history 
and of song, when the marble pavements were 
trodden by the houris of the zenana, and the five 
hundred fountains, strung in endless vista, terrace 
upon terrace, threw their sparkling jets into the 



MAETIAL ELEPHANTS. 115 

Bunsliine to greet the august presence of tlae G-reat 
Mogul. 

We drove out in shabby state to the cantonment, 
or military station, of Meean Meer, three miles 
from Lahore, where the sepoys received us with 
the martial salute due to our exalted rank! Here 
we saw a hundred elephants, many of them 
veterans that had drawn the heavy artillery through 
the Kyber Pass and up to the gates of Bala Hissar. 
Puissant and docile, the giant brutes now stood 
quietly feeding themselves with sugar-cane, occa- 
sionally using a long stalk to switch the flies from 
their flanks. "When the sweet tiffin was finished, 
one by one they marched to a reservoir to drink 
and be washed. The keepers drenched them by 
means of buckets, and the elephants aided the 
operation by spurting the water first above and 
then beneath their bodies. 

At the suggestion of an attendant we threw a 
silver mite (two annas) on the ground before one 
of the largest beasts. The piece fell unnoticed, 
but in obedience to the word of command he 
groped a moment and then dutiftilly handed it to 
his rider. After they had bathed, a dozen or more 
formed a line before us, and, at the order to 
" salaam," lifted their trunks and sounded a sten- 



116 CITIES OF THE MOGULS. 

torian chorus, in honor of two sovereign electors 
of the Great Republic. 

We now prepared to turn southward, though not 
without keen regret. In the streets of Lahore we 
had heard the Persian patois, singled out the long 
black locks and flowing beards of the pale Be- 
loochees, and recognized the sturdy frames and 
ruddy faces of the Afghans. 

We craved to know the countries beyond the 
snowy mountains, — ^the lovely Yale of Cashmere, 
and the rugged fields of Afghanistan, where Eng- 
land and Russia are fated to meet in battle array. 
But time and the season warned us to abandon 
such thoughts, — doubtless forever, — and so, with 
grateful adieus to our stranger friends, we sped 
away to Umritsur. 

The Sikhs, who form a religious as well as a mil- 
itary community, have made Umritsur, " the Fount 
of Immortality," their holy city. About the end 
of the fifteenth century iSTanuk, the founder of their 
faith, taught them to reject idolatry and worship 
one God alone. Caste was abolished and other 
features of the Hindu system were improved ; but 
in the course of practice they have gradually re- 
ceded from most of the reforms. Their creed to- 
day is practically an adaptation of Brahminism. 



HOLY RITES OF THE SIKHS. 117 

The Ka'aba of the Sikhs is dedicated to the god 
Vishnu, the second of the Hindu trinity. It stands 
upon a little island in the middle of the sacred tank 
from which the city derives its title. A marhle 
causeway connects it with the shore. Groups of 
devotees are constantly bathing in the " crystal 
water" to wash away their sins, and large fish, 
called the rhoe, come to the surface to be fed. 

The sanctuary itself is built of the purest mar- 
ble, and its aureate roof, dome, and minarets glitter 
in the sun like the Tartar bulbs of the Kremlin. 
On account of this ornamentation it has been ap- 
propriately named the Golden Temple. Within, 
the walls are decorated with gilt and high colors, 
disappointing in comparison with the richness of 
the exterior. 

Upon approaching the precincts of the temple, 
we were required to exchange our shoes for woollen 
slippers, the same as in Ottoman mosques. A guide 
attended us, and we entered all parts of the shrine 
without restriction. 

Inside, three priests sat on rugs beside a large 
cushion, upon or before which the faithful placed 
their offerings of food, money, and flowers. "WTien 
it was the last, the worshippers were given a few 
in return, with which they made three or four 



lis CITIES OF THE MOGULS. 

circuits of the . interior, holding their hands in the 
attitude of supplication and mumbling prayers as 
they walked. Accompanying these curious rites a 
band of native musicians played without ceasing, 
and sang with the shrill twang of the East. 

For three months previous to our visit, Xlmritsur 
had been suffering from the ravages of a malarial 
fever. During that period, thirty thousand, or one- 
fifth of the entire population, had succumbed, and 
the mortality was still three hundred a day. 

In view of this alarming sanitary condition we 
timed our arrival for the morning, that we might 
see the Golden Temple and the shawl factories — 
the only attractions — and yet leave by the evening 
train for Agra. As we drove to the station, after 
dark, a dense fog hung over the city ; so rank that 
we deemed it prudent to breathe through a hand- 
kerchief The cause of the epidemic was evident 
enough. 

"We spent the greater part of our stay in the 
stricken city among the shawl merchants, and in 
the noxious mud shanties where their elaborate 
wares are produced. Umritsur has become one of 
the principal centres of the trade, drawing travellers 
and buyers from all parts of the world. The weavers 
are brought from Cashmere, and the wool from the 



A MOHAMMEDAN FESTIVAL. 119 

slopes of the Himalayas. "We were conducted 
through a number of miserable houses crowded 
with the patient toilers. 

A primitive hand-loom is the only machinery 
used, but skill supplies the rest. The pattern is 
written on a paper, which guides the nimble fingers 
in manipulating the myriad of pendant wooden 
needles bearing the colored yarns. Flowers and 
figures are woven separately and sewed together to 
form the shawl. In India these Cashmere chudders, 
the precious fruit of the loom, are worn by men 
of wealth and nobility, while in the Occident they 
are the undisputed property of the ladies. 

When we arrived at Agra the great Moham- 
medan festival of the Moharram was at its height. 
In the bazaars, the shops of the Muslims and of 
many of the Hindus were closed, and the streets 
thronged with people in gay holiday attire. E'autch 
girls, wives, and daughters, all decked with the 
showy trinkets of the East, filled the windows and 
balconies, waiting for the culminating pageant of 
the day. As the procession approached, the crowd 
surged towards its head, and the excitement became 
intense. 

Kear where we stood the line halted for a pair of 
athletes, armed with shield and stick, to display 



120 CITIES OF THE MOGULS. 

their prowess at fencing. Every hit was greeted 
with a popular shout, or taunts like those hurled 
at an unskilful bull-fighter in Spain. At other 
points begging posturers sat by the wayside, twist- 
ing their limbs into all manner of unnatural posi- 
tions, while everywhere drums were beating, shrill 
reed instruments piping, and a myriad of tongues 
chattering in wild confusion. 

This feast, which lasts ten days, is sacred to the 
memory of the grandson of the Prophet, who 
perished in the struggle for the succession to the 
caliphate of Islam. Gaudy shrines, made of tinsel 
and paper, designed like the tomb of the martyred 
Hosein, are carried in the parade, or symbolical 
funeral, to the cemetery, where they are buried like 
the dead, amid demonstrations of rage, triumph, 
and lamentation. 

Agra is essentially a Mogul city, and nowhere 
are the wealth and splendor of that oppressive dy- 
nasty evinced to a greater degree than in its sump- 
tuous monuments. Here Akbar located his capital 
and built the imposing citadel which overhangs the 
Jumna. Within its crenellated walls, a mile and a 
half in circuit, stand the architectural gems, some 
in a condition of ruin, which attest the magnificence 
of the imperial court. 



SPLENDORS OF THE AGRA FORT. 121 

After passing tiie massive gateway of tlie enclos- 
ure, itself a fortress, and crossing a garden, we come 
to ttie Hall of Public Audience. Next we enter 
the zenana, where the beauty of the East was once 
gathered, and then the luxurious baths, all lavishly 
adorned, which resemble the cool retreats and 
sprinkling fountains of the Alhambra. One of these 
chambers and its passages, called the Palace of 
Glass, are decorated with little mirrors, similar to 
the room at Ambher. 

The Hall of Private Audience consists of two 
pavilions, smaller than the one at Delhi and more 
of the Hindu style, but almost as richly finished. 
Here we found the Black Throne of Akbar, upon 
which we coiled ourselves in Oriental fashion, with- 
out, however, feeling like a Great Mogul. 

Then follow the elegant private apartments of 
the Emperor, and pavilions, kiosks, and balco- 
nies overlooking the river, seventy feet below, all 
of snowy marble, with exquisite fretted lattices of 
the same material and inlaid with mosaics of pre- 
cious stones. 

Near by is the immaculate Pearl Mosque, which 
is much larger than its queenly namesake at Delhi. 
Although purely Saracenic in style, this edifice de- 
pends for its exalted effect upon absolute simplicity 
F 11 



122 CITIES OF THE MOGULS. 

of outline and graceful proportion, eschewing al- 
most all ornament. The whole is of white marble, 
from the pavement of the court to the three crown- 
ing domes, " silvery bubbles which have rested a 
moment on its walls, and which the next breeze will 
sweep away." 

Even while the Fort was in process of construction, 
Akbar was engaged in rearing a stupendous summer 
establishment about twenty miles from Agra. 

The ruins of this city, for such it is, are within 
a walled park, seven miles in circumference, em- 
bracing the present villages of Futtehpur and Sikri. 
The plateau of a long, rocky hill, in the centre of 
the enclosure, was selected for the court, and upon 
this site arose a prodigal array of stately piles. 
Red sandstone is the prevailing material, but con- 
siderable marble was also used. Many of these 
structures are yet intact, while others exist in a 
state of partial decay. 

According to the statements of early travellers, 
Akbar once intended this " most noble city" for his 
seat of government. Scarcely, however, was it 
completed before he quitted the place for sanitary 
reasons. Palaces and mosques, zenanas and baths, 
walls and towers, tombs and ga.teway8, pavilions, 
courts, and halls, built with the money and the 



REIGN OF A GREAT PRINCE. 123 

labor of his subjects, were thus abandoned to neg- 
lect and decline. 

This transitory paradise seems to have owed its 
creation to the advice of a fakir, or holy mendicant, 
named Shekh Selim, — ^whose marble tomb stands 
in the quadrangle of the mosque, — to commemorate 
the birth of the child that became the Emperor 
Jehangeer. Legend has interwoven its story with 
the history of this event, but in whatever light it 
may be viewed, we must conclude that Akbar 
either abetted a fraud or yielded to the baldest 
superstition. 

But with all his faults, Akbar was the greatest 
prince that ever sat on the throne of the Moguls. 
Although constantly at war, he never lost a battle. 
During his reign the dominion of the empire was 
vastly extended, and wise reforms were successfully 
introduced. While a Mohammedan by birth and 
education, he was tolerant of all religions. At one 
time he inclined to a belief in Christ, when he 
married the alleged Christian lady, the Miriam of 
Whittier's exquisite poem, whose tomb is pointed 
out near his own superb mausoleum at Secundra, a 
short drive from Agra. He invited Hindus to ac- 
cept civil and military offices, and chose two wives 
of that faith. 



124 CITIES OF THE MOGULS. 

Akbar's efforts to establish religious equality 
finally led him to devise an eclectic creed, which 
sought to unite the followers of Christ, of Zoroaster, 
of Brahma, and of Mohammed. In this impossible 
task he naturally encountered failure, and the ab- 
normal system died with its founder. 

Every department of his court was sustained 
upon a scale of splendor before unknown in India. 
Under him and his successors, Agra blended the 
magnificence of the palaces of Mneveh and the 
temples of Babylon with the enchantments of the 
sylvan elysium of Cashmere. 

Yet after the recital of all this wondrous gran- 
deur the crowning glory of Agra and of India 
remains to be told. The incomparable Taj Mahal, 
that peerless marvel of love, of skill, of patience, 
of beauty, of treasure, and of power ; the faultless, 
dazzling mausoleum which Shah Jehan raised to 
the memory of his beautifal, idolized consort, in ac- 
cordance with a promise made beside her death-bed. 
As a last request she begged of him a memorial 
befitting a queen. In response he vowed to rear 
above her remains a sepulchre that the world should 
hold matchless. 

More than two centuries have elapsed since this 
shrine of affection was completed. Attracted by its 



BUILDING OF THE TAJ. 125 

fame, in that period travellers from every clime have 
journeyed to Agra to behold the jewelled wonder. 
Man is critical, either from instinct or pedantry; 
but a single voice is yet to deny that Shah Jehan 
has redeemed the fullest measure of his pledge. 

The Taj, which signifies a crown, is the work of 
the enforced labor of twenty thousand men for 
seventeen years. Scantily fed as they were, thou- 
sands died of want and disease, but this mattered 
little when the purpose of a Mogul was at stake. 
Like Peter the Great, when myriads perished in the 
swamps of the l!^eva to found St. Petersburg, Shah 
Jehan simply ordered the ranks to be replenished. 
Rajahs and nabobs were placed under tribute for a 
crore (ten millions) of rupees, more than half the 
entire expense, and the Emperor's private treasury 
furnished the balance. 

In estimating the total expenditure (nearly ten 
million dollars), it should be remembered that the 
labor cost nothing except a trifle for its meagre 
support, and prices in the East cannot be compared 
with those of the West, even less so formerly than 
now. Marble for the superstructure and precious 
stones for the inlaying were gathered from every 
quarter, while architects and artisans were sum- 
moned from Europe. 

11* 



126 CITIES OF THE MOGULS. 

I am conscious of the futility of entering upon a 
laborious description of a building with the ex- 
pectation of affording much entertainment to a 
reader. Especially in the present instance, cold 
measurements and architectural terms jar with the 
poetic treatment which harmonizes with this ideal 
creation.* " Like piety or like heaven," observes 

* For tlie pleasure of the few wishing the prosaic details of the 
Taj, I append the following extract from Fergusson's " History 
of Architecture" : 

" The enclosure, including garden and outer court, is a parallel- 
ogram of one thousand eight hundred and sixty feet by more than 
one thousand feet. The outer court, surrounded by arcades and 
adorned by four gateways, is an oblong, occupying in length the 
whole breadth of the enclosure, and is about four hundred and 
fifty feet deep. The principal gateway leads from this court to 
the garden, where the tomb is seen framed in an avenue of dark 
cypress-trees. The plinth of white marble is eighteen feet high, 
and is an exact square of three hundred and thirteen feet each 
way. 

" At the four corners stand four columns, or towers, each one hun- 
dred and thirty-three feet high, and crowned with a little pavil- 
ion. The mausoleum itself occupies a space of one hiindred and 
eighty-six feet square, in the centre of this larger square, and each 
of the four corners is cut off, to the extent of thirty-three feet nine 
inches, opposite each of the towers. The central dome is fifty- 
eight feet in diameter by eighty feet in height. The total height, 
from the ground to the top of the gilded spire which crowns the 
central dome, is two hundred and ninety-six feet." 



A SUBLIME MAUSOLEUM. 127 

Dr. Butler, in Ms " Land of tlie Veda," " it may be 
said of the Taj that no man knowetli it save him that 
receiveth it." Learning from the experience of 
others how completely it baffles the efforts of the 
pen to convey a fair conception of its beauty, I will 
attempt nothing beyond a mere outline. 

Entering a magnificent gateway, we find ourselves 
in a garden which rivals the charms of Shalimar. 
Before us stretches a lengthy avenue of the trem- 
bling cypress, along the middle of which a row of 
fountains toss their slender jets high into the stilly 
air, — a superb vista, a third of a mile long. At the 
extreme end, partially obscured by the abundant 
foliage, rises the Taj, so white and dazzling that it 
seems to be the source of the sunlight which crowns 
it like an aureole. 

Approaching it, we mount a broad terrace of red 
sandstone, upon which are two mosques of the same 
material, one on each side. From this base we 
ascend to a smaller platform of polished marble, 
whereon four towering minarets, snowy and grace- 
ful, dart upward from the corners. In the centre 
of this fitting pedestal stands the Taj, radiant and 
of spotless white. 

The edifice is square, but as the corners are trun- 
cated it might also be called octagonal. Surmount- 



128 CITIES OF THE MOGULS. 

ing it is a symmetrical, bulbous dome, flanked by 
four lesser bulbs raised on delicate pavilions. A 
lofty arcbed entrance, and twin pairs of smaller 
arcbes, pierce eacb of the four identical fagades, 
adding an air of ligbtness and plasticity to faultless 
proportions. 

Tbe walls of tbe exterior, not less tban witbin, 
are lavisbly embellisbed witb inlaid vines and flow- 
ing texts from tbe Muslim scriptures. Indeed, it 
is credibly stated tbat tbe entire Koran is tbus 
placed upon tbe mausoleum. Everywhere tbe 
finish is like tbat of a jewel-case, in supreme for- 
getfiilness of toil or treasure. 

We enter tbe rotunda, and stand thrilled by a 
beauty and a solemnity which pass all expression. 
Lost in admiration we unconsciously speak, and 
instantly the guardian Echo catches up the note 
and carries it round and round tbe lofty vault, call- 
ing it back softer and softer, as if not to wake tbe 
dead, until it fades into profound silence. Win- 
dows of marble lace temper the light witbin, har- 
monizing it with the religious sentiment which 
pervades the tomb. 

Directly beneath the dome is the cenotaph of the 
Empress, covered with mosaics of flowers and foliage, 
wrought in turquoise and jasper, carnelian and sard. 




-■i-*<3>»'ff 



THE TAJ BY MOONLIGHT. 129 

chalcedony and agate, lapis lazuli and jade, blood- 
stone, onyx, and heliotrope. Beside it is that of 
the Emperor, similarly adorned. Surrounding 
them is a screen of marble filigree, elaborate and 
delicate beyond all conception. 

In a vault below the central hall is the inlaid sar- 
cophagus which contains the ashes of the lady of 
the Taj, — Moontaz-i-Mahal, the Exalted One of the 
Harem. There, also, close to the bride of his youth, 
rests the faithful Shah Jehan. Deathless love joined 
for evermore. 

"We came by moonlight to this sanctuary, when 
all was silent save the rippling of the Jumna, which 
flows by its side ; and, walking round the shimmer- 
ing pile, confessed that " the rare genius of the calm 
building finds its way unchallenged to the heart." 



CHAPTER VI. 

SCENES OP THE MUTINY. 

Man's inhumanity to man 
Makes countless thousands mourn. 

Burns. 

It may be noticed that I have rarely adverted to 
the landscape of India. This has not been the re- 
sult of neglect nor of a failure to observe. In a 
word, from the Ghauts, or coast range, with slight 
exceptions, it is an endless plain, relieved only by 
an occasional pretty railway station framed in 
flowers and the picturesque towns and villages. 
The route from Agra to Cawnpore is equally mo- 
notonous, and so it continues to Calcutta. 

It was nearly three in the morning when we 
alighted at Cawnpore, chilly and sleepy, amidst a 
gathering of shivering, timorous natives. What a 
contrast, I thought, to the horrible scenes enacted 
here early in the summer of 1857. We were re- 
ceived by the proprietor of the cosey little hotel, a 
veteran of Havelock's heroic column. Late as it 

was, he provided tea and toast before we retired, 
130 



PREVIOUS TO THE STRUGGLE. 131 

and promised to conduct us over the various his- 
toric sites the next morning. After breakfast we 
started in his wagonette, and, moving fi-om place 
to place, listened to his enthusiastic recital until 
almost four in the afternoon. 

Previous to the Mutiny we hear nothing of Cawn- 
pore, except its pleasant civil and military stations 
and commanding position on the Granges. Strangely 
enough, unlike other military centres of India, it 
was never strengthened by a fort ; nor has one been 
constructed yet, regardless of the awful experience 
of its need. 

The outbreak of the Mutiny found the city 
wholly unprepared for resistance, much less to en- 
force the authority of the government. Although 
the garrison consisted of three regiments of infantry 
and one of cavalry, there were only two hundred 
European troops. The sepoys, or native soldiers 
trained in the service of the English, revolted in a 
body as soon as they received news of a similar 
movement at Meerut and Delhi. 

When Lord Canning succeeded as Governor- 
General in 1856, there were already indications of 
popular discontent. The King of Oudh had just 
been deposed and his territory annexed to the 
British dominions, but not without engendering a 



132 SCENES OF THE MUTINY. 

bitter feeling of hostility. One of the first acts of 
the new Viceroy was to demand possession of the 
citadel of Delhi, at the same time informing the 
shadowy Mogul that his son and successor would 
not be permitted to assume the title of King. 

While these disturbing elements were at work, a 
prophecy was artfully propagated among the super- 
stitious people, that English rule was destined to 
end with the centenary of the battle of Plassy (June 
23, 1757), from which it dates. Such causes as these 
were sufficient to excite disaffection in a race 
" accustomed for ages to conquests, annexations, 
changes of empires and dynasties, absorption of 
principalities, and violation of hereditary rights, 
real or adopted." Only a spark was needed to fire 
the mine of revolution, and with singular fatality 
it came like a flash of lightning. 

To keep pace with the improvement in fire-arms, 
it had been decided to substitute the rifle for the 
musket. The change involved the use of a lubri- 
cated cartridge, and this apparently unimportant 
detail ignited the country like a firebrand. 

Immediately the emissaries of revolt spread 
broadcast the rumor that the government, with in- 
tent to destroy the sacred institution of caste, had 
ordered the cartridges to be greased with lard and 



THE COMPARATIVE FORCES. 133 

the fat of beeves. The one would defile the Mus- 
lims, the other the Hindus. In vain the authorities 
strove to allay the fanatical panic by denying the 
report. Infection, terror, passion, and indignation 
followed in its path. 

Later it was discovered that a conspiracy had 
been planned for a simultaneous rebellion of the 
sepoys throughout Hindustan. The time was well 
chosen ; and so confident were the British of their 
tenure that the crisis was upon them while they 
dreamed of security. 

Regiment after regiment had been withdrawn for 
service in Persia and the Crimea, until only twenty 
thousand European troops remained in the entire 
empire. This skeleton army, scattered in detach- 
ments, over a vast territory, was called upon to 
confii-ont a hundred and fifty thousand sepoys and 
millions of the infuriated populace. 

The railway system of India, now complete, had 
lately been commenced, and was of no avail to con- 
centrate the scanty forces. Every movement im- 
plied a long march in the most oppressive of the 
Indian seasons. Hundreds of brave men succumbed 
from sunstroke and heat apoplexy before they could 
reach the enemy. The fiendish atrocities committed 

upon their people roused the English soldiers 

12 



134 SCENES OF THE MUTINY, 

to almost superhuman strength and impetuosity. 
Their thrilling achievements throughout the Mutiny 
must ever command the admiration alike of friend 
and foe. 

The outbreak of the sepoys at Meerut and Delhi 
at once placed Cawnpore in peril. Sir Hugh 
Wheeler, who was in command, hastily constructed 
a rude intrenchment, two hundred yards square, 
around his barracks on the plain. Within this 
slender shelter he gathered the English and a few 
faithful natives, in all about nine hundred souls, 
comprising two hundred and fifty efiective soldiers, 
and the remainder civilians, invalids, women, chil- 
dren, and servants. To defend this earthwork there 
were only ten guns of small calibre. The rest of 
the artillery, together with the bulk of the supplies, 
had been seized by the disaifected troops, now in 
open revolt. 

Flushed with temporary success, the rebels started 
for Delhi, ostensibly to report for service to the 
Mogul, who was to be the sovereign of the new 
Mohammedan empire. After marching a short 
distance they were persuaded by Nana Sahib, the 
adopted heir of the nominal Mahratta chieftain, to 
return for the purpose of destroying the beleaguered 
Europeans. 



THE SIEGE OF CAWNPORE. 135 

Eager for tlie apparently easy prey, the sepoys at 
once commenced the attack. But the task proved 
more difficult than they had imagined. Batteries 
of heavy artillery from the captured arsenal were 
brought to bear, and showers of musketry fire 
poured into the intrenchment. Day after day 
passed, yet the little garrison refused to yield. 

About this time more than a hundred refugees 
from Futtehgurh, forty miles distant, while attempt- 
ing to escape down the Granges, were intercepted 
near Cawnpore and cruelly murdered. 

The besieged had but one well, and that was so 
exposed in the middle of the enclosure as to render 
it perilous to draw water. Heat, privation, and the 
shells of the enemy daily increased the roll of death, 
and every night a fatigue party ventured outside to 
cast the bodies into a neighboring well. Thus, in 
the vain expectation of reinforcements, their heroic 
defence was prolonged for three weeks ; exhausted 
by sickness and want, with little ammunition or 
medical stores, they were bombarded, sapped, and 
stormed. 

Seeing no hope of succor at the end of that 
time, Sir Hugh agreed to a proposition from the 
ISTana to surrender; but not without fears of 
treachery. Having professed friendship for the 



136 SCENES OF THE MUTINY. 

Englisli up to tlie moment of the outbreak, the 
rebel leader might again prove faithless. However, 
the situation was too desperate to be governed by- 
doubts. 

By the terms of the capitulation, all within the 
intrenchment were to be insured a safe passage to 
Allahabad, in covered boats provided for the pur- 
pose. Two days later the survivors of the siege 
left the intrenchment, escorted by the sepoys, and 
marched down to the river, some on foot and others 
in vehicles or mounted upon elephants. While 
they were yet embarking, and many of the boats 
lay in the stream near the landing, an agent of the 
inhuman N"ana gave the signal for one of the most 
perfidious acts that history records. 

A bugle sounded, and instantly concealed bat- 
teries opened upon the fagitives with grape-shot, 
followed by volleys of musketry from the crowded 
shores. The thatch of the boats was ignited, burn- 
ing to death the sick and the wounded, and forcing 
the strong into the water. Bullets rained upon 
them from the banks, and troopers dashed into the 
river to sabre all that attempted to land. 

Of all the men only four escaped, drifting in 
one of the boats, although the relentless enemy 
pursued them for miles. Those of the women and 



MASSACRE OF THE WOMEN. 137 

children yet alive — many wounded, scorched, and 
bleeding — were driven back to the city and im- 
prisoned in greater misery for three more terrible 
weeks. Although the ladies were subjected to 
every indignity, strange to relate not one suffered 
dishonor. 

The Satanic Nana, more anxious to establish a 
kingdom for himself than to restore the Mogul 
power, ascended the throne as Peishwa of the Mah- 
rattas. Elated with his triumph, he despatched a 
body of four thousand men to reduce Allahabad. 
Advancing from that city, the avenging Havelock, 
with his little column, only twelve hundred strong, 
encountered the rebels at Futtepore, and sent them 
flying back to Cawnpore. Three days later the 
impetuous victors again routed the sepoys, warning 
the ISTana of his swift downfall. 

Enraged by his defeat, before quitting the city 
the incarnate fiend resolved to wreak his vengeance 
on the two hundred captive women and children, 
rather than allow them to be rescued by Havelock's 
approaching heroes. The horrors of the frightful 
massacre which followed stagger the pen and excite 
in the most merciful thoughts of revenge. 

Says the narrative of a survivor, who visited the 
spot on the succeeding day : 

12* 



138 SCENES OF THE MUTINY. 

" The native spies were first put to the sword; then 
the cooks and sweeper women, who attended upon 
the prisoners, after whom the poor females were 
ordered to come out, but neither threats nor persua- 
sion could induce them to do so. They laid hold 
of each other by dozens, and clung so close that it 
was impossible to separate or drag them out of the 
building. The sepoys, therefore, brought their 
muskets and fired a few shots upon them from the 
doors and windows. Then the executioners rushed 
in with swords and commenced hacking down the 
helpless, unoffending creatures. 

" The fearful deed was done most deliberately, in 
the midst of the dreadful shrieks and cries of the 
victims. There were about two hundred souls, 
including children, and from a little before sunset 
till dark the fiends were occupied in completing 
the dreadful deed. The doors of the building were 
then locked for the night, and the murderers went 
to their homes. 

" The following morning it was found, on opening 
the doors, that some six or eight females, with a 
few of the children, had managed to escape death. 
A fresh order was sent to murder these also, but 
some of the survivors, who had not been severely 
wounded, unable to bear the idea of being cut down, 



TRAGEDY OF THE WELL. 139 

rushed out into the compound, and, seeing a well 
there, threw themselves into it without hesitation, 
thus putting a period to lives it was impossible for 
them to save. 

" The bodies of those miurdered on the preceding 
evening — some still breathing — were then ordered 
to be thrown into the same well, and jullads (hang- 
men and dog-killers) were employed to drag them 
away. The children who survived the previous 
evening's massacre kept running here and there to 
save themselves, the ruffians allowing them to do so 
for some time, till they were cut down, one after 
another." 

The next morning, after a final battle in which 
the Nana was crushed, Havelock and his invin- 
cible command entered the city. Guided by a few 
trembling natives the officers galloped to the gory 
prison, still hopeful of saving life. 

Too late ! l!^ot a woman or child lived. " One 
of the rooms was a pool of blood two inches deep, 
and the well at the back of the house was filled to 
within six feet of the brim with the dead bodies of 
the murdered women and children." 

Such was the ghastly spectacle which greeted the 
brave men who had overcome all obstacles to carry 
deliverance to their suffering people. But it inspired 



140 SCENES OF THE MUTINY. 

them with that terrific resolution which was soon 
to destroy the human tigers and avenge the atro- 
cious deed. 

The sepoys fled as the English approached, hut 
some quickly paid the penalty of their nameless 
crimes. " Rehel sepoys and others were daily cap- 
tured and strung up to the tree in the enclosure 
where the ladies and children were massacred. 
rMany high-caste Brahmins were first compelled to 
' collect the hloody clothes of the victims and wash 
I up the hlood from the floor, and after undergoing 
' this degradation, which they helieve dooms their 
souls to perdition, sweepers of a peculiar class called 
domes (the mere touch of whose hand to a Brahmin 
; is pollution, and death from whom is to be attended 
\ by awful consequences) received orders to hang the 
j infatuated wretches." The officer who gave the 
signal to fire upon the boats was taken to the 
identical spot and hanged. So proceeded the 
condign work of retribution. 

The fate of I^ana Sahib after the Mutiny is un- 
known. When the British entered Cawnpore he 
fled northward, probably to the jungles of ITepaul, 
where he is supposed to have perished. Continued 
effiDrts were made to apprehend the human tiger, 
but without result. 



MEMORIALS OF SORROW. 141 

In the winter of 1874 a man was captured in 
Gwalior who claimed to be l^ana Sahib, but he 
proved an impostor. His purpose was surmised to 
be an attempt to ascertain whether the genuine 
outlaw might expect the protection of the Mahratta 
people. K the theory was correct, the plan failed 
in every respect, as the Maharajah Scindia himself 
disposed of the personator. 

Few traces of the Mutiny now exist at CaMmpore. 
Wheeler's intrenchment has been razed, but low 
stakes mark the line of the rampart. Adjoining 
this site is the handsome memorial church, of 
Romanesque style, called by the sadly appropriate 
name of All Souls'. Indented by shot and shell, 
the well yet stands from which the besieged drew 
water with such peril. The one into which the 
dead were thrown, night after night, has been filled 
and surmounted by a monument. 

The fatal bungalow and its neighboring well 
have been consecrated by a garden of flowers and 
evergreens, nearly fifty acres in extent. Although 
the house of death has disappeared, a black marble 
slab indicates its position. The memorable well is 
crowned by the marble figure of an angel, — em- 
blematical of martyrdom and victory, — and enclosed 
by a high octagonal screen, Gothic in design. All 



142 SCENES OF THE MUTINY. 

is fair to the eye, but the horrible associations of 
the spot ever haunt the mind. The pedestal of the 
statue bears this inscription : 

" Sacred to the perpetual memory of the great company of 
Christian people, chiefly women and children, who, near this spot, 
were cruelly massacred by the followers of the rebel Nana 
Dhoondoo Punth, of Bithoor; and cast, the dying with the dead, 
into the well below, on the 16th day of July, 1857." 

Close to the edge of the Ganges we stood upon 
the steps of the landing, called the Suttee Chowrah 
Ghaut, now partly in ruins, where, in former times, 
widows immolated themselves upon the funeral 
pyres of their husbands. Here the Nana and the 
sepoys perpetrated the treacherous massacre of the 
garrison. Since that awful tragedy it has borne the 
name of the Slaughter Ghaut. A small, deserted 
temple and an overhanging pepaul-tree, at the top 
of the flight, bear witness to the rain of bullets that 
greeted the betrayed people. 

In several places on the walls of the temple, 

freshly written in an enviable hand, were the words, 

i "May God destroy the English nation soon;" the 

work, most probably, of a young man, Hindu or 

; Mohammedan, instructed at the expense of the 

J Indian government. If pressed in public for his 



NATIVE SPIRITUAL CONDITION. 143 

opinions, the same craven would doubtless loudly | 
protest his fidelity to the Empress-Queen. | 

Despite the material benefits conferred upon 
India by English rule, I am convinced that the 
masses are neither appreciative nor loyal. Educa- 
tion has proved ineffective to emancipate the native 
mind and to uproot fanaticism. Every expedient 
has failed to establish the power of conscience or to 
exalt religion into a controlling force. Outward 
piety and compliance with ritualistic forms, which 
are apparently engrossing, here signify nothing, 
unless it be the potency of superstitious tradition. 
Even the pretence of religion is brazenly discarded 
when money is the issue. There are, of course, 
many individual exceptions, but only thousands 
among the degraded millions. 

In brief, the spiritual condition of India could 
scarcely be more lamentable. While venturing to 
rehearse these unhappy truths, I am far from wish- 
ing to discourage missionary labors. On the con- 
trary, the extremely remote prospect of regeneration 
depends mainly upon the evangelists for develop- 
ment. May they be inspired with renewed strength 
to prosecute their arduous task. 

We journeyed to Lucknow, fifty miles from 
Cawnpore, by the slowest of midnight trains upon 



144 SCENES OF THE MUTINY. 

a branch railway. It was dawn when we drove 
through the silent streets to the cheerless hotel, 
thinking how narrowly the city had escaped a his- 
tory identical with that of Cawnpore. 

Lucknow is the capital of Oudh, and a populous 
Muslim centre. From a distance it presents an 
impressive eiisemhle of imposing buildings, crowned 
with swelling domes and arrowy minarets. But 
the grandeur is an illusion quickly dispelled by a 
nearer view. 

The architecture of the court section is a taw- 
dry mixture of the Oriental with debased Italian. 
Stucco, daubed with ochre, gilding, and whitewash, 
is chiefly the material. Such is the Kaiser Bagh 
(Emperor's Garden) Palace, — the late residence of 
the dethroned tyrant, now at Calcutta, — an immense 
quadrangle hinting an imitation of the Palais Royal 
of Paris. Everywhere above the door-ways and 
arches is the carved fish, the armorial device of the 
kings, denoting sovereignty. 

Another huge pile of similar construction, called 
the Grreat Imambara, or Patriarch's Place, was 
formerly consecrated to the Moharram, the Muslim 
festival described in connection with Agra. Then, 
in the suburbs, there is a fantastic and almost gro- 
tesque suggestion of Versailles, known as the Mar- 



THE BESIEGED RESIDENCY. 145 

tiniere. It was built by a soldier of fortune, General 
Claude Martine, a Frencbman, who became wealthy 
at the court of Oudh. In accordance with his en- 
dowment, it now serves as a school, and the founder's 
remains lie in the crypt beneath. 

Although there are numerous tombs and mosques, 
Lucknow contains no eminently sacred shrine except 
the Eesidency. About that ruined pile is woven 
the story of one of the most remarkable struggles 
of history, the siege and relief of Lucknow. 

Fortunately, the outbreak of the Mutiny found 
Sir Henry Lawrence Commissioner of Oudh. A 
veteran in Indian life, able and resolute, he early 
discerned the approaching danger and met it with 
vigorous measures. In consequence of the recent 
annexation of Oudh, an act of doubtful policy, the 
spirit of disloyalty was easily propagated by the 
deposed king and the landed aristocracy. 

Against seven hundred British troops there were 
nine Indian regiments, in all seven thousand men, 
quartered about Lucknow. Although the bulk of 
the sepoys eventually revolted, the vigilance of Sir 
Henry delayed the crisis long enough to enable him 
to collect stores and prepare for the worst. After 
meeting with a serious reverse, on account of the 
treachery of his native gunners, the commander 



13 



146 SCENES OF THE MUTINY. 

was compelled to destroy the only fort of the station. 
This enabled him to concentrate his little force to 
defend the Residency, already intrenched, where 
he had gathered the civilians and their families. 

The undulating grounds of the Residency, some 
acres in area, form a slight eminence upon which 
are scattered the mansion of the former English 
political residents and the houses of of&cials, — all 
now in picturesque and sorrowful ruin. 

Within this shelter, rudely adapted as a fortress, 
the devoted English withstood a desperate siege of 
nearly five months, bravely repelling every furious 
onslaught and heroically enduring the burning heat, 
privation, sickness, and death. At first they num- 
bered twenty-two hundred souls, including the gar- 
rison of five hundred European soldiers, and half 
as many more faithful sepoys. The investing force 
is variously estimated fi-om fifty thousand to a hun- 
dred thousand. As the prospect of reducing the 
place rose or fell, so the ferocious swarm increased 
or diminished. 

Two days after the siege began. Sir Henry Law- 
rence was struck by a shell which burst in his room. 
Forty-eight hours later he died in the house of the 
surgeon, whither he had been carried. With no 
ordinary sensation the stranger now visits those 



A HEROIC MARCH. 147 

hallowed spots, amid the verdure with which nature 
has draped the shattered buildings. "Here Sir 
Henry Lawrence was wounded," and " Here Sir 
Henry Lawrence died." 

Benevolent and talented, he was beloved alike 
by the natives and his countrymen. The Residency 
is his monument, and within its grounds, in the little 
cemetery, we read upon a simple marble slab, 
" Here lies Henry Lawrence, who tried to do his 
duty. May God have mercy on his soul." 

For three months after the death of their chival- 
rous leader, the beleaguered people sustained the 
siege unchanged. Meanwhile, a friendly native, 
who had succeeded in passing the lines by night, 
brought the glad news that Havelock was coming. 
But the gallant victor of Cawnpore, dreading to 
hear of another massacre at Lucknow, had hurried 
from the former city, in the reeking heat of the 
monsoon, with only fourteen hundred men, all he 
could muster. After marching four days he met 
and defeated twelve thousand of the enemy, and 
shortly after cleared a walled village by storm. 
Beset by insuperable difficulties, with sunstroke, 
wounds, and cholera thinning his ranks, he saw the 
hopelessness of his undertaking. 

Then came the intelligence that a body of four 



148 SCENES OF THE MUTINY. 

thousand rebels threatened Cawnpore, where only 
a slender guard had been left. Accepting the in- 
evitable, Havelock started to retrace his steps ; but 
finding his column pursued, he turned again and 
routed a large force. Proceeding once more towards 
Cawnpore, he attacked the rebels who were mena- 
cing that city, and drove them in confusion from 
their encampment. 

About a month later reinforcements arrived under 
Sir James Outram, who generously waived his su- 
perior rank and served as a volunteer, that the 
honor of saving Lucknow might not be taken from 
Havelock. Without delay the hero of ten victories 
again advanced to the relief of the imperilled Resi- 
dency, this time with twenty-five hundred men. 

Overcoming all obstacles, in a few days he reached 
the outskirts of Lucknow and captured the Alum 
Bagh, a palace surrounded by a wall. Leaving his 
impedimenta within this enclosure, he led his de- 
termined command into the city, fighting through 
streets of loopholed houses and carrying the Kaiser 
Bagh, after a terrible contest. 

The battle raged from early morning until night- 
fall, when the troops penetrated to the Residency 
and were received by the garrison with frantic 
cheers. No words can picture the greetings and 



THE RELIEF OF LUCKNOW. 149 

the joy of tlie deliverers and the rescued, upon that 
eventfiil evening. But nearly five hundred intrepid 
soldiers had fallen in the day's struggle ; almost as 
many as the remnant of the besieged, — three hun- 
dred and fifty Europeans, and somewhat fewer 
natives. 

The Residency had been succored, but the joint 
force was too small to raise the siege, much less to 
conduct the women and children to a distant point 
of safety. Thus situated, the defence was continued 
for nearly two months longer. At last came Sir 
Colin Campbell, afterwards created Lord Clyde, 
with five thousand men and thirty guns. The se- 
poys intrenched themselves against his army and 
disputed every position about the city. 

On both sides the conflict was relentless, and no 
quarter was asked or given. A walled garden, 
called the Secunder Bagh, held by two thousand 
rebels, was breached and stormed by the High- 
landers, who bayoneted every man. So furious 
was the resistance that Sir Colin was three days in 
cutting his way through the city. 

The Residency was then finally relieved and 
speedily evacuated. Silently, at midnight, the 
women and children were escorted through the 
narrow streets and along the road to Cawnpore. 

13* 



150 SCENES OF THE MUTINY. 

Three nights later the remainder of the garrison 
withdrew to the Alum Bagh, where General Ou- 
tram maintained himself until Sir Colin gathered 
an ample force and recovered the city, four months 
subsequently. 

Two days after the withdrawal from the Resi- 
dency the knightly Havelock died of a disease con- 
tracted by toil, anxiety, and exposure. His noble 
life ended with his humane task. Happily, he 
lived long enough to hear that his services were 
recognized by his sovereign and her people. 

I can recall no foreign soldier whose career in- 
spires the same touching interest as that of Have- 
lock. Lacking, as he did, the influence of birth 
and means to purchase military promotion, under 
the former British system, his eventual distinction 
was due solely to the natural ascendency of worth 
and ability. His exalted character is written in the 
words which were among his last : " For more than 
forty years I have so ruled my life that when death 
came. I miffht face it without fear." 

We drove out to the Alum Bagh, where his re- 
mains were placed by his companions-in-arms. A 
clumsy obelisk marks the sacred spot, among the 
graves of others who fell at Lucknow. Erom the 
long inscription we readily extract the gem : " He 



FAMA SEMPER VIVAT. 151 

showed how the profession of a Christian could_]ie- 
combined with the duties of a soldier." 

"We lingered about the graceless shaft, and plucked 
roses to press as souvenirs. The surroundings are 
not as attractive as might be expected, yet I was 
loath to depart. Truly, as our impulsive admiral 
said when voluntarily he assisted the British fleet 
in reducing the Chinese forts of the Peiho, " Blood 
is thicker than water." Equally with any of his 
countrymen I can declare in all sincerity, that I 
revere the memory of Henry Havelock. 



CHAPTER VII. 

HOLY PLACES OF THE HINDUS. 

It must be that He witnesses 

Somehow to all men that He is : 

That something of His saving grace 

Reaches the lowest of the race, 

Who, through strange creed and rite, may draw 

The hints of a diviner law. 

Whittiek. 

We came by night directly from Lucknow to 
Allahabad, exchanging stories of war for those of 
religion. Allahabad, scarcely less so than Benares 
and Muttra, is a holy place of the Hindus, — ^the City 
of God, for such is the translation of its exalted 
name. But one fails to realize the expectation 
which such a title excites. 

The real importance of the city is due to its 

position as the centre of the great railway system 

of India. Here the lines converge which extend 

to Calcutta, Bombay, and Lahore. Its strategic 

value is also great, as it commands the highways 

of navigation to and from the upper provinces. 
152 



THE FEAST OF BATHING. 153 

To the believer, the halo of sanctity about Alla- 
habad arises from its location at the union of the 
Jumna and the Ganges, the two sacred streams 
which bound the Doab, or Land of Two Rivers. 
The tongue of sandy ground at the junction is the 
hallowed spot, and here myriads of the devout re- 
sort, like pilgrims to Jordan, to purify the soul by 
bathing and prayer. 

Annually this custom takes the form of a festival, 
lasting a month, when multitudes gather and the 
lowland at the confluence becomes a vast encamp- 
ment. A peaceful Santa Fe, if we may so adapt 
the term which Ferdinand and Isabella used, on 
the plain of Granada, as a Christian guise for war- 
like conquest. Many come in ox-carts or with cara- 
vans of camels; but more perform the journey by 
railway or afoot, frequently from distant parts of 
the peninsula. 

As the Hindu religion works on a cash basis, 
these occasions are embraced for the purpose of 
gain, as well as of worship. Owners of various 
portable shrines hold forth their efficacy ; Brahmins 
read the Shasters in return for pious offerings ; the 
makers of gods are present to vend their wares, and 
groups of Nautch girls find an abundant harvest. 
Skirting the temporary city, traders erect their 



154 HOLY PLACES OF THE HINDUS. 

streets of bootlis or bazaars, and traffic in merchan- 
dise and cattle, like their Russo-Tartar cousins at 
the annual fair of Kijni l!^ovgorod. 

Every twelfth year, when Jupiter enters a certain 
sign of the zodiac, occurs the Grreat Mela, as the 
pilgrimage is called, during which the concourse 
sometimes reaches millions. Upon arriving at Al- 
lahabad we were told that this extraordinary Mela 
would happen early in the following February 
(1882), the last having taken place in 1870. Prep- 
arations were already in progress to accommodate 
the expected throng, although the beginning of the 
feast was nearly two months in the future. 

Conscious as we were of the importance of the 
approaching event, our position was one always so 
annoying to travellers. We were eager to witness 
so rare a spectacle, and knew well the advantages 
we should have under the guidance of our resident 
countrymen. Confronting these weighty claims 
was the urgent consideration of time. We could 
not affiard the lengthy delay. 

The fakirs, or holy mendicants, common through- 
out Hindu India, always attend the Melas in large 
numbers, begging or otherwise exacting food and 
money from the masses. This repulsive class, for 
some strange reason regarded with superstitious 



HOLY MENDICANTS. 155 

awe, is the greatest enigma of an enigmatical faith. 
While outwardly ascetics and devoted to a religious 
life, they are, in reality, given to every species of 
rascality and degradation. 

Under the pretext of sanctity they almost dis- 
pense with clothing, often reducing even the rag 
about their loins to the merest strip. Their hair 
and beard grow wild, and become matted and filthy 
through want of combing. Instead of the ordinary 
turban of muslin, they twist about their heads a 
coil of greasy rope or else wear nothing. The face, 
breast, and limbs they smear with ashes from the 
fdneral pyres, relieved with daubs of ochre, vermil- 
ion, or other color. 

We noticed scores of fakirs with sensual counte- 
nances, and as many more with thief written on 
every feature. Some distort themselves physically, 
like the lazzaroni of Italy, or perhaps attenuate 
their bodies by fasting. All these disgusting arti- 
fices, difficult as it may be to conceive, serve to con- 
secrate the human beasts in the eyes of ignorant 
idolaters. How such lives and practices can be as- 
sociated with religion is a mystery which staggers 
the understanding. 

These fakirs inflict a variety of tortures upon 
themselves during the Mela. One, for example, 



156 HOLY PLACES OF THE HINDUS. 

buried himself in the ground until only his nose 
and mouth were exposed, and so feigned to remain 
for several days without eating. But at night the 
knave walked out of his grave, and, without doubt, 
stole the material for a hearty meal. Others would 
roll themselves in the dust by the wayside, and 
l^owl piteously for alms. 

While at Lahore we heard of one so confident 
of the power of his holiness, attained through 
bodily mortification, that he ventured to thrust his 
arm into the cage of an infuriated tiger. In an in- 
stant the limb was mangled. This sceptical tiger, 
a noble specimen, was in the Zoological Garden of 
that city, where we saw him in one of his most 
ferocious moods. 

Adjoining the site consecrated to the Mela stands 
the Fort, a work of the modern pattern. It was 
originally constructed by Akbar, but the Mogul 
lineaments have nearly all disappeared. On the 
parade-ground within is one of the inscribed mono- 
lithic pillars, which the famous King Asoka erected 
(B.C. 240) in the propagation of Buddhism. 

The leading point of interest in the stronghold 
is the remnant of a temple buried under the debris 
of ages. Upon entering this sanctuary, by a sub- 
terranean passage, we were shown hideous brass 



TWIN MIEACLES. 157 

idols, with glaring eyes; the usual lingas, which 
are sacred to Siva ; and a bifarcated stump, appar- 
ently yet alive. 

The last, called the Tree of Knowledge, is be- 
lieved by the Hindus to be coeval with the ancient 
shaft just mentioned. When the log ceases to dis- 
play signs of vitality, the crafty Brahmins replace it 
with a fresh one, thu8( perpetuating the preposter- 
ous myth. Our attention was likewise directed to 
another object of veneration — the water which drips 
from the walls. This the credulous attribute to the 
proximity of a holy stream, called the Sarasvah, 
which is supposed to flow underground until it joins 
the Ganges and the Jumna, forming a trinity of 
rivers. In India, at least, one realizes the force of 
Goethe's line, — 

Das Wunder ist des Glaubens liebstes Kind. 

While at Allahabad, we visited some of the 
American missionaries, who are present in force 
and laboring earnestly on a stony field. They have 
a printing-press, schools, a Bible depository, neat 
churches, and a zenana mission. 

Among this little army of workers is Miss Sara 

C. Seward, niece of the late William H. Seward, 

whose department is medicine. As a physician she 

14 



158 HOLY PLACES OF THE HINDUS. 

is enabled to reach tlie harems of the wealthy, 
where access would be denied the ordinary teacher. 
We hold pleasant recollections of a neat bungalow, 
amid a pretty garden, in which we were the recipi- 
ents of her hospitality. 

We prolonged our stay at Allahabad beyond that 
of most travellers. The hotel was the best we found 
in India, the people and the surroundings were 
agreeable ; so we took advantage of the opportunity 
to rest and write. Ahead of us, our next destina- 
tion, lay the holy city of the Hindus, of paramount 
interest in our tour. 

I had already achieved Rome and Jerusalem, and 
was anxious to add the third of the four principal 
sacred places of the world. The gates of the fourth 
are closed by fanaticism against all unbelievers, 
unless it be an isolated, daring spirit, like a Burton 
or a Burckhardt, in fluent command of the Arabic 
tongue. We passed its port on the Red Sea, doubt- 
less as close to the guarded shrine as we shall ever 
reach. But after a short journey we are at Benares, 
enough of wonder for the present. 

It was nearly four in the morning when our slow 
train dragged its weary length into the station, over 
the river from the city. We could find neither a 
gharry (carriage) nor a person to speak English. 



A NIGHT ADVENTURE. 159 

Sleepy, shivering coolies stood ready to carry our 
baggage, but wbere ? We repeated the name of 
the desired hotel, over and over again, without re- 
sult. At last, one of the natives, a shade less stupid 
than the rest, indicated by signs that he would lead 
the way. Following him, with six of his fellows 
bearing the luggage, we walked down to the Ganges 
and crossed on a long bridge of boats. 

There was no moon, but Castor and Pollux were 
poised overhead, and Orion sparkled amid the starry 
splendor of a tropical night. The throbbing city 
was hushed in sleep, and not a thing moved upon 
the rippling stream, — the sacred waters to which 
the Hindu comes for atonement, as the Christian 
pleads the blood of a Saviour. 

Upon the other side of the Ganges we secured a 
conveyance and drove nearly three miles to our 
hotel, where we had further difficulty in rousing the 
drowsy servants. Thus we entered the holy city. 

So ancient is Benares that its early history is lost 
in the mythology of the "Vedas. But we can trace 
the record of its existence for at least twenty-five 
centuries. During that period it has steadily main- 
tained its supremacy as the religious centre of India. 
" The Hindu," writes the Rev. Dr. Sherring, " ever 
beholds the city as a place of spotless holiness and 



160 HOLY PLACES OF THE HINDUS. 

heavenly beauty, where the spiritual eye may be 
delighted and the heart may be purified ; and his 
imagination has been kept fervid, from generation 
to generation, by the continued presentation of this 
glowing picture. Believing all he has read and 
heard concerning this ideal seat of blessedness, he 
has been possessed with the same longing to visit 
it as the Mohammedan to visit Mecca, or the Chris- 
tian enthusiast to visit Jerusalem." 

'Not alone to the Hindus is Benares consecrated 
ground. Here it was that Gautama, after he became 
Buddha, first expounded the creed which was des- 
tined to exceed all others in the number of its fol- 
lowers. For a time the new faith supplanted Hin- 
duism in this, its very citadel; but was in turn 
driven forth, to found a greater empire in the farther 
East. 

Like Christianity, flourishing as an exotic. Bud- 
dhism has ceased to sway its own Holy Land, which 
lies around Benares and northward to the borders 
of ISTepaul. Yet such has been its triumph in the 
Eastern Peninsula, China, Japan, Central Asia, and 
elsewhere, that it dominates more than a third of 
the human race. 

Benares, excepting the European quarters, is 
purely Oriental in aspect. Its narrow, winding 



BENAKES IN PERSPECTIVE. 161 

streets, thronged with humanity and sacred bulls ; 
its crowded houses, and airy palaces built by devout 
princes for their visits ; its two thousand temples 
and mosques, besides innumerable shrines and 
niches for gods; its tempting bazaars, with rich 
displays of gold and silver embroidery, fabrics of 
gauze and cashmere, barbaric jewelry and precious 
stones, wooden toys and the famous chased brass- 
ware ; its hosts of pilgrims, holy mendicants, ISTautch 
girls, sacred monkeys, and patient beasts of burden ; 
its fringe of palms, acacias, and venerated pepauls ; 
its sunny skies by day and myriads of smoky house- 
hold fires by night ; and its pervading atmosphere 
of base religion, idolatry, and hopeless superstition, 
— all combine to form a striking picture of Indian 
life. 

Accompanied by a tricky guide, we drove to the 
heart of the city, and thence, on foot, penetrated a 
labyrinth of alleys to the leading temples. Swarms 
of people, miserable, bony, and almost nude, shrunk 
away at our approach, lest by simply touching us 
they should defile their slavish caste. 

In one place we met a procession of noisy fakirs, 

girt with rags and smeared with ashes and pigments, 

going to a feast which had been offered them by 

some wealthy enthusiast. Forgetful of their sanc- 
l 14* 



162 HOLY PLACES OF THE HINDUS. 

tity, our guide cleared the passage for us by thrust- 
ing them right and left, without meeting the least 
resistance. 

Before we reached the first shrine, repulsive beg- 
gars gathered about us and became very annoying. 
Not uncommonly they are victims of elephantiasis 
or other forms of leprosy. They obtrude their 
loathsome sores upon travellers at every turn, think- 
ing to force a gratuity as the price of relief from 
their presence. 

A ten minutes' walk brought us to the famous 
Golden Temple, consecrated to the god Bisheshwar, 
another name for Siva, the third of the Hindu triad. 
The popular English title is derived from its gilded 
dome and tower. Within the quadrangle we first 
came upon the Well of Knowledge, in which Siva 
is supposed to reside. "Why it should be so called 
is not explained. After watching the faithfal cast 
in offerings of flowers, rice, and water fi-om the 
Ganges, we approached to see its depth. One 
glance sufficed, as the stench was not to be en- 
dured a second time. 

Beside the well is a large stone bull, which 
represents Siva as Mahadeva, the great god, when 
he unites " under his own personality the attributes 
and fiinctions of all the principal gods." 



SACRED BULLS AND SYMBOLS. 163 

A few steps distant stands the temple itself, filthy 
and insignificant in size, yet the high Cathedral of 
Hinduism. We were delayed a moment at the 
entrance by the pressure of devotees and sacred 
bulls. Says Monier Williams, Sanskrit Professor 
of Oxford, whom I shall farther quote, " The 
letting loose of a bull — ^properly stamped with the 
symbol of Siva — ^that it may be tended and rever- 
enced by pious persons, is a highly meritorious 
act." 

In the enclosure these consecrated brutes were 
eating the vilva-leaves placed as oblations about the 
many lingas, or egg-shaped stones, set upright in a 
base (jijoni) having the outline of a Jew's-harp. 
" Temples to hold this symbol, which is of double 
form to express the blending of the male and fe- 
male principles in creation, are probably the most 
numerous of any temples now to be seen in India." 
It typifies Siva as " the eternal reproductive power 
of nature, perpetually restoring and reproducing 
itself after dissolution." 

In this role the versatile god has absorbed the 
province of Brahma, who is now directly worshipped 
in only one or two places. The homage due the 
latter has been transferred to the Brahmins, or 
priests, who sprung jfrom his mouth and are " re- 



164 HOLY PLACES OF THE HINDUS. 

garded as Ms peculiar offspring, and, as it were, his 
moutiL-piece." 

As " the repositories, both of the divine word and 
of the spirit of devotion of prayer," the Brahmins 
are alone permitted to read the sacred books. They 
are distinguished by a cord, composed of three 
threads of cotton, encircling the body fi'om the left 
shoulder to the right hip; also by the purity of 
their features, preserved through the agency of the 
stringent law, in the Code of Menu, forbidding 
intermarriage with the three lower castes. 

Siva, as we shall find, is also extensively propiti- 
ated as the " destroying and dissolving power of 
nature, the more active principle of destruction 
being assigned to his consort. Kali. In every one 
of his characters the consort of Siva is not only his 
counterpart, but generally represents an intensifica- 
tion of his attributes. As destructress she is Kali ; 
as reproducer she is symbolized by the yoni, and 
as a malignant being delighting in blood she is 
Durga." 

Hinduism admits of sects, like other religions. 
The principal of these are the followers respectively 
of Siva and Vishnu, the latter being the second of 
the trinity. 

Although Siva commands the adoration of all, 



THE PRESIDING IDOL. 165 

" Vishnu is certainly the most popular deity. He 
is selected by far the greater number of individuals 
as their savior, protector, and friend." Vishnu is 
worshipped through his ten incarnations, which 
form a favorite piece of mythology for decorating 
the brassware. 

But to return to the Golden Temple. In the 
small enclosure we were received by a Brahmin, 
who invited us into the building. There the people 
came in a continuous string, making offerings and 
drenching the lingas with water brought from the 
river. From the door of an inner sanctuary we 
saw the rounded metallic face and glaring eyes of 
the presiding idol. The Brahmins warned us not 
to cross the sill, as by so doing we should profane 
this disgusting object of divine honors. 

I can now appreciate the fervent pleasure of Mo- 
hammed, as an iconoclast, when he led a victorious 
army into Mecca and destroyed the three hundred 
and sixty images of the Arabian pantheon. After 
completing their round of offerings, the worshippers 
turned to this Hindu deity and bowed their heads 
to the sloppy marble floor. This finished, they 
arose and tapped a large bell overhead, to call the 
attention of the idol to their gifts. 

The god is supposed to extract the essence from 



166 HOLY PLACES OF THE HINDUS. 

what he receives, while the dross — ^whether goods, 
money, or food — becomes the spoil of the private 
owners of the sanctuary and of the insatiate Brah- 
mins. 

Hence the immense profits of a popular shrine. 
As with a patent medicine, a fortune may be real- 
ized by skilfully advertising the virtues of an idol. 
Such is the extent of this trade in credulity that 
agents are sent throughout the peninsula to allure 
pilgrims, by intimating where religious efficacy may 
be had at the lowest rates. 

A second temple, in the same vicinity, we found 
to be a cow-stable, harboring a score or more of 
those useful animals amid reeking filth. The cow 
is considered the most sacred of brute creation, as 
it "typifies the all-yielding earth." In another 
place we were shown the Well of Fate, around 
which lingers a characteristic superstition. A win- 
dow in the enclosing wall admits the sun's rays 
exactly at noon, when a person must be able to see 
his shadow on the water below, or else death will 
ensue within six months. 

All that I have related, however, is harmless in 
comparison with the obscenity depicted on the ITe- 
paulese Temple. The building is of carved wood, 
with sculptures illustrating one of the books of the 



A MONKEY SANCTUARY. 167 

Ramanaya, a sacred mythological epic of the Hin- 
dus. "Worse pictures never served the worst of 
purposes, yet they are openly tolerated in a great 
city of British India. 

Perhaps the Viceroy's government can explain 
why policy is thus carried to a point which libels 
the good Queen and her people. There can be no 
quarter for this diplomatic handling of brazen vice, 
even though it be shielded by a gauze of religion. 
Laws founded upon reason and decency should be 
enforced by an enlightened Christian nation equally 
throughout all its territories. Abiding results can 
be had on no other basis. 

Benares is a city of strange sights, and one of 
the strangest is the Monkey Temple. Think of 
hundreds of those wicked little imps in a place of 
worship ! Undisturbed, they chatter, quarrel, and 
wander everywhere. After the toilet and foraging, 
their chief occupation is war. So much so that the 
tiny ones cling to their mothers at the first alarm, 
to avoid the sharp frays. Outside the enclosure, 
they infest the neighboring streets and gardens, 
running along the walls and over the roofs of 
houses, pilfering at every chance. 

We bought a liberal supply of sweetmeats and 
popcorn, at a little shop in the vicinity, and took a 



168 HOLT PLACES OF THE HINDUS. 

position under a large tamarind-tree, close to the 
temple. In a moment we were surrounded. Some 
of the monkeys, in their greed, snatched the sweets 
from our hands, while the stronger fought off the 
weaker. A few raps from our umbrellas settled 
the bullies, and then the feast proceeded quietly, 
but with extreme haste. 

Yet these knavish cormorants are all sacred ; to 
be venerated as an emanation from Grod and a 
manifestation of His presence, like certain stones, 
rivers, trees, animals, and idols. They are also 
revered because of their place in the Ramayana. 
When Rama went to recover the beautiful Sita, his 
stolen wife, from the demon king of Ceylon, — 
which is the burden of the epic, — an army of 
monkeys aided the forces of the god. 

The Monkey Temple is dedicated to the goddess 
Durga, one of the forms of Siva's consort, who 
delights in gore. In order to propitiate this malig- 
nant deity the blood of kids or goats is offered 
before her shrine every morning. Here, for the 
first time, we witnessed the rites of a living sacri- 
fice, and a repulsive exhibition it proved. 

A Brahmin " did a pooja" (prayer) before the 
idol, and then marked the face of the doomed 
animal with red paint and hung a wreath of yellow 



THE POWEE OF CASTE. 169 

flowers around its neck. The head of the victim 
was next secured in a wooden vise, ahout two feet 
from the pavement, and a boy held up the hind 
legs until the fore feet were clear of the ground. 
While the neck was thus stretched out, the execu- 
tioner severed it with a single stroke of a long, 
broad knife. The twitching head was placed on a 
post, or altar, and dogs licked up the blood from 
the writhing trunk. In another moment the Brah- 
min and the public butcher were both importuning 
us for money ! An appropriate finish for so revolt- 
ing a ceremony. '"'^ 

Every instinct of toleration is changed to one of 
antagonism before this frightful hydra of Hinduism. 

The more we see of its serpent folds, holding a 

hundred, jin.d„ ninety _m^lion souls in terror and 
degradation, the more we ponder how the noxious 
monster may be destroyed. 

The great stay of Hinduism and chief protection 
against its downfall is caste. In fact, it forms the 
basis upon which the entire fabric is securely 
reared. Without this obstacle, the stronghold of 
the Brahmins could be mined by appealing to 
reason, and to the instinct which prompts man to 
improve his position. But under the existing sys- 
tem "the distinction of caste and the inherent 

H 15 



170 HOLY PLACES OF THE HINDUS. 

superiority of one class over the three others, are 
thought to be as much a law of nature and a mat- 
ter of divine appointment as the creation of sepa- 
rate classes of animals, with insurmountable differ- 
ences of physical constitution." 

The four cardinal castes are the Brahmins, or 
priests, who sprung from the mouth of Brahma; 
the Kshatriyas, or warriors, from his arms; the 
Vaisyas, or farmers and merchants, from his thighs ; 
and the Sudras, or servants and laborers, from his 
feet. Below these are the Pariahs, or outcasts, 
whose vocations are the most servile. 

These divisions, established by the earliest laws 
of the Hindu faith, rule supreme and unquestioned. 
The caste to which the father belongs is hereditary 
mth the child, and by no effort, virtue, or ability 
can a higher one be obtained. 

" The Brahmins," says Professor Williams, " con- 
stitute the great central body, around which all other 
classes and orders of beings revolve like satellites. 
Not only are they invested with divine dignity, but 
they are bound together by the most stringent rules ; 
while the other three classes are made powerless 
for combined resistance by equally stringent regu- 
lations, one class being separated from the other by 
insurmountable barriers." Hence the unlimited 



VISITING A MAHARAJAH. 171 

power of the priests over the mindless, superstitious 
multitude.'' 

A violation of caste subjects the offender to acts 
of penance or purification ; and to become a con- 
vert to another faith implies complete and painful 
ostracism. "With these facts in view, we can better 
understand why there are only three hundred native 
Christians in Benares, where the population reaches 
nearly a quarter of a million. 

It may be asked. Are there any good men that 
seriously believe in this idolatrous faith? There 
are. Yonder, across the Ganges, lives the vener- 
able Maharajah of Benares, a devout Hindu, whose 
earnestness and piety are reflected in a blameless 
life. To the poor, he is charitable ; to the stranger, 
hospitable ; and to all, kind. We were told by his 
heir that his devotions frequently occupy him far 
into the night. In the Council of the Governor- 
General, of which he is a member, no man is held 
in higher esteem. Yet he is a Hindu, of the 
strictest type. And there are doubtless many 
others like him; anomalies peculiar to the occult 
problem of religion. 

Through the kind offices of a resident friend, the 
secretary of the good Maharajah wrote us that his 
master would be pleased to receive us at his palace 



172 HOLY PLACES OF THE HINDUS. 

the next morning. The note farther stated that a 
carriage would be sent to our hotel and a boat to 
the river-side, that even in coming and going we 
should be his guests. 

At the appointed hour we drove off in a showy 
equipage, attended by a driver and two footmen 
standing behind, all three in crimson livery. A 
light barge, manned by six oarsmen, bore us across 
the swift stream to the gate of the fortress-palace, 
which stands on the banks of the sacred river and 
commands a fine view of the holy city. Thence 
we were escorted by an oflScial to the drawing-room, 
where the " young Maharajah" courteously wel- 
comed us in English. His father, he said, had been 
engaged in prayer all night, and asked to be ex- 
cused, as he was resting. Urged by him to remain, 
we talked an hour or more of men and books 
and countries. He remarked, with a tinge of 
regret, that they were unable to travel on account 
of the liability to violate their caste. I referred 
to Warren Hastings and his demands upon the 
rajahs of Benares. "Yes," replied the Prince, 
" our house has been weak since then." 

During our stay his brother and an uncle entered, 
and although they could speak no English, we 
understood the compliment of their silent presence. 




TOWER AT SARNATH, BUDDHIST HOLY LAND. 



TRACING BUDDHA'S FOOTSTEPS. 173 

When we rose to leave, a servant approached 
with a tray, jfrom which the Prince took a vial of 
attar and sprinkled our handkerchiefs. After that 
he placed a chain of silver tinsel over our shoulders, 
as a keepsake, and said adieu, taking us cordially 
by the hand. 

As we crossed the court an officer followed us 
with a photograph of the Maharajah, which he 
presented, with the respects of his Highness. We 
then left, pleased with the hospitable customs thus 
extended to strangers. At the hotel we gave the 
scarlet retainers of the carriage a baksheesh com- 
mensurate with the depth of their parting salaams 
and the splendor of their raiment. 

Another day we went out to Sarnath, to see all 
that remains of Buddhism in one of its holiest 
places. When Prince Siddartha attained Budda- 
hood under the Bo-tree at Gaya, when enlighten- 
ment was full, he directed his steps to the strong- 
hold of the Brahmins, to offer " Mrvana, sinless, 
stirless rest," to all that would enter the paths. 

" I now desire to turn the wheel of the excellent law. 
For this purpose I am going to that city of Benares 
To give Light to those enshrouded in darkness, 
And to open the gate of Immortality to men." 

Here in the Deer Park, now called Sarnath, about 

15* 



174 HOLY PLACES OF THE HINDUS. 

three miles north of the city, the great reformer first 
preached his new doctrines. In the third century 
before Christ the zealous Idng Asoka erected a 
memorial tower upon this spot, and later a Bud- 
dhist monastery and other buildings arose in the 
vicinity. ^ 

When the followers of Buddha were finally ex- 
pelled from India, in the twelfth century, these 
structures were either destroyed or fell into decay, 
i^early all are now so far reduced as to be of interest 
only to the archaeologist. But one, the tower known 
as the Stupa, or Tope, yet stands in picturesque ruin. 

The upper part of this relic is of brick and the 
lower of stone, forming a total height of about one 
hundred and thirty feet. Its ornamental feature is 
an encircling, triple band of sculpture, richly 
wrought with geometrical figures and scrolls of the 
lotus, both in the bud and the open flower. An 
aged, shrivelled Hindu, who pretended to conduct 
us about Sanarth, mournfully declared that he was 
a hundred and ten years old. 

The culminating sight of Benares, and of Hin- 
duism, is the panorama of the city from the Granges, 
when the people are bathing. Early in the morn- 
ing, soon after sunrise, the crowd is greatest. 
Making our arrangements the evening previous, 



EARLY MORNING ON THE GANGES. 175 

we drove betimes to the river, where a native boat, 
provided with comfortable chairs, awaited our com- 
ing. Rowed by six men, we passed slowly up and 
down, over a stretch of about two miles, halting a 
few minutes here or landing there for unusual ob- 
jects. A more striking picture of life and religion 
is scarcely to be found in the world. 

Lofty palaces, in close array, overhang the steep 
bluff, while below, on every available spot, temples 
and shrines threaten to invade the stream ; and high 
above all the slender minarets of Aurunzebe's 
mosque rise in bold defiance. The people sub- 
mitted to the invading spires of the fanatical Mogul, 
but refused to accept his prophet's creed. They 
are of little use now, except to afford travellers a 
fine bird's-eye view of the city. 

In several places foundations have been sapped 
by the river, until the buildings thereon are either 
tottering or have fallen in hopeless ruin. As they 
fell so they lie, — ^partly submerged ; yet no effort is 
made to arrest the progress of destruction. At two 
or three points a colossal, grotesque figure, a god 
in plaster, is laid prone upon the shore, in ludicrous 
attitude, while other idols and lingas, smeared with 
red paint, are numerous. 

l^ear where we embarked the gaudy state barge 



176 HOLY PLACES OF THE HINDUS. 

of a pilgrim rajah was moored ; and primitive boats 
moved past, or lay clustered at every turn. Large 
umbrellas, with plaited covers, are frequent, planted 
either singly or in groups, to shelter the devotees 
or those engaged along the river. 

Ghauts, or flights of steps, lead down into the 
water at short intervals. From the foot of these, 
or a few paces out, the devout throngs perform 
their ablutions. This daily washing not only re- 
freshes and cleanses the body ; it calms the passions, 
purifies the soul of guilt, and does homage to the 
divine essence which pervades the river. 

Men, women, and children bathe together or 
within sight of each other. Apparently, they think 
of nothing, for the time being, except the devotional 
act. We saw hundreds, perhaps thousands, thus 
engaged; many standing waist-deep, some pre- 
ferring a seat by the edge, and others sunning 
themselves dry on the steps. 

About midway along the river front we came to 
the Burning Grhaut, and landed for a closer view of 
the spectacle. Here were eight bodies, shrouded 
in cotton cloth; four in the process of cremation, 
two lying on the shore, partly immersed in the 
atoning waters, and two beside the piles being pre- 
pared to receive them. 



REDUCING THE GROSS BODY. 177 

The pyres were not regularly formed, like those 
at Bomhay, but simply shapeless heaps of wood 
upon the sloping bank. We remained some time, 
changing our position with the breeze, to escape 
the intense heat and sickening odor. In the in- 
terval, a little knot of people came, chanting and 
bearing on a bamboo stretcher their burden of 
death. 

N^ear where we stood a stone marked the spot 
consecrated by a suttee, before that inhuman custom 
was forbidden (1829) by the government. The 
Hindu esteems it a precious privilege here to have 
his " gross body" reduced to ashes, to offer his final 
sacrifice in fire. Many are brought to Benares in 
their last illness, that their absorption into Brahma 
and eternal rest in him may be assured by dying 
and having their funeral rites fulfilled on the brink 
of the sacred stream, in the holy city. 

In these, as in all other ceremonies, the extrinsic 
piety of the Hindus is evident. Religion permeates 
their lives as blood does the human system. ISTor 
is it less vital and unceasing in its influence. It 
controls every move, however trifling, and regulates 
even the smallest of household affairs. 

Uufortunately, this devotion seems to penetrate 
no deeper than a compliance with the outward law. 



178 HOLY PLACES OF THE HINDUS. 

It takes the negative form of propitiating the deities 
having power to thwart mundane plans. Every- 
thing is made secondary to the petty needs of the 
present. Greed of money overcomes the scruples 
of all classes; of none more than the Brahmins. 
The average priest will traffic in the sanctity of the 
holiest shrines, or be guilty of falsehood, or decep- 
tion, for a single rupee. Honor and its demands 
upon manhood are utterly unknown ideas. But all 
this is the natural sequence of following such a 
monstrosity as a spiritual guide. 

In brief, Hinduism is a false religion, from what- 
ever stand-point it may be viewed. If we call it 
Brahminism, as some do, we see only the most 
evident pantheism. In its true aspect, the popular, 
accepted form, it becomes the grossest polytheism, 
a confased, impure mass of idolatry, offering no 
hope for the future except utter annihilation of the 
soul. 

That I may not be charged with condemning 
this strange faith without presenting its defence, 
below is a paper which two Brahmins of the Temple 
of Kali, at Calcutta, asked leave to prepare for a 
place here. ISTo alterations have been made in the 
text, except such as their limited knowledge of 
English rendered necessary. 



BRAHMINS DEPEND THEIR FAITH. 179 

" Whatever we worship, we worship in spirit, 
and not the inanimate stones and idols. True it is, 
that to the external view we are idolaters, but we 
are not really idolaters. K we ask ourselves what 
idolatry is, our internal conscience will say that it 
is the worship of dull and senseless idols, and that 
a man cannot attain salvation by worshipping God 
without spirit and without holiness. 

" But the Hindus are, truly speaking, not idolaters, 
for they worship the Most Holy in spirit and holi- 
ness. Strangers or outsiders may superficially 
think us to be idolaters ; the reason of this is, they 
are quite unacquainted with the fundamental prin- 
ciples of our doctrines and the explanations of our 
images. 

"Innumerable are the attributes of the Divine 
Being, the Almighty Father, the Lord of the "World. 
There is nothing impossible with God. He can per- 
form everything in His stage of the world. What 
we call miracles are not miracles to Him. 

" Europeans and many other peoples of the earth 
think God is merely an invisible and incompre- 
hensible being; but according to the opinions 
of our holy saints (i.e., the Eishis of yore) God is 
not only invisible and incomprehensible ; He is at 
the same time visible and comprehensible. Being 



180 HOLY PLACES OE THE HINDUS. 

almighty, He is both visible and invisible, both 
comprehensible and incomprehensible. 

" Any one can make the objection that it is im- 
possible for a being to be both visible and invisible, 
that the same being cannot be both comprehensible 
and incomprehensible; but nothing is impossible 
with God. Consequently, though He is the invis- 
ible spirit, having no shape, still, when we worship 
Him, He has the power of appearing before us, by 
taking any shape He likes, because He is ' the all- 
powerful being.' 

" So we believe that though our Heavenly Father 
has no shape, still He has innumerable shapes for 
His worshippers. By taking the appearance of 
Brahma, He creates the world ; by that of Yishnu, 
He preserves the world, and by that of Siva, He 
destroys the world. By taking the appearance of 
Kali, He destroys the wicked and gives salvation to 
holy and religious men. 

" Thus our shapeless and invisible Father, the 
God of the Universe, has represented His three 
principal powers (creating, preserving, and destroy- 
ing) in the three figures of Brahma, Yishnu, and 
Siva, l^ow everything happens in its proper time, 
whether creation, preservation, or destruction; 
everything shall be efiected in its due season. 



MANIFESTATION OF DIVINE POWER. 181 

Thus the power of time, which is in no way inferior 
to the above three powers, is represented by the 
figure Kali. 

"Various other powers are also represented by 
God in other different figures ; such as the power 
of knowledge, which is manifested in the figure 
of Sarasvatty; the power of wealth, in the figure 
of Luksmi. Many are of the opinion that the 
Hindus worship many gods, but we do not; we 
worship God in His different powers in different 
figures, 

" Whose power is it that so brightly shines every 
day before our eyes ; that gives us heat and light, 
and thus preserves our life ? It is the power of 
God, who manifests His superior heat and light 
through the figure of the sun. Whose power is it in 
the atmosphere, in which we live and breathe ? It 
is the power of God, who manifests Himself in its 
vital and life-preserving influence. 

"Whose power is it that brightens our room, 
keeps us warm, and prepares our food ? It is the 
power of God, who manifests Himself in the glori- 
ous and consuming fire. Whose power is it in the 
M^aters and streams, that not only cleanses us ex- 
ternally, but by means of which our insubordinate 
passions are also checked? It is the power of 

16 



182 HOLY PLACES OF THE HINDUS. 

God, who manifests His glory in the figure of water, 
and thereby preserves mankind. 

" So, in the great work of creation, we see only 
the power of the Almighty in different figures ; and 
thus, though invisible. He is still visible. This 
universe being His body, we thus worship the dif- 
ferent powers of God, and not different gods. 

" As has been stated before, the Almighty is 
represented as time in the figure of Siva. For, as 
Siva is the destroying power, and the universe 
being subject to destruction through time, he is also 
time, — i.e., eternity. If we examine the image of 
Siva we shall easily be convinced that the figure is 
a true representation of eternity. 

" We see that Siva's body is covered with ashes, 
which means that everything shall be destroyed by 
time and ultimately reduced to ashes. Kow, Siva 
being in himself eternity, and ashes the emblem of 
destruction, his body is ornamented with ashes. 
Thus we learn a great moral lesson, that everything 
in this world is frail and destined to come to ashes ; 
that we vainly express our pride in worldly things, 
all of which must perish. 

" Whenever we look at the three eyes of Siva, 
we remember that time has three eyes, — ^present, 
past, and future. Whenever we look at the snakes, 



EXPLANATION OF IMAGES. 183 

the tiger-skin, and the human skull that Siva keeps 
about him, we are reminded that the snakes, which 
are so poisonous and unyielding, must be subdued 
in time; that the skull, which is preserved after 
the destruction of the human body, may be seen in 
eternity ; that the tiger-skin, which alone remains 
after the death of a tiger, is like a refuse of that 
fierce animal in the body of time, — i.e., Siva. 

" Thus, in short, we learn from the image of 
Siva, that whatever is showy, proud, destructive, 
and fierce must ultimately be destroyed and ab- 
sorbed in the body of time, — i.e., Siva, — and thus it 
is proved that the image of Siva is a true picture 
of eternity. 

" As Siva is in himself eternity. Kali, the wife of 
Siva, is the power of time, — i.e., what Siva performs 
he does by his power as Kali. We see that the 
face of Kali is black and has three eyes. In the 
beginning there was darkness throughout the uni- 
verse, and, therefore, the face of Kali is black (Kali 
being the power of eternity). The three eyes are 
the three divisions of time, — present, past, and 
fiiture. Kali has four hands, — virtue, wealth, de- 
sire, and salvation. 

" The hand with a sword is virtue, because it 
shows that by destroying the wicked and evil pas- 



184 HOLY PLACES OE THE HINDUS. 

sions it maintains peace and prosperity, and conse- 
quently tlie virtue of the world. The hand with a 
human head is wealth, because the head is that of 
a peace-destroying demon; and if the demon is 
annihilated, peace is preserved, and our wealth 
(spiritual wealth, — i.e., contentment) is saved. The 
hand containing something is desire, because it is 
the emblem of fulfilling the desires of all. The 
hand always raised is salvation, because it gives 
hope to mankind that they shall receive salvation 
after death. 

" Kali is always standing over Siva, by which we 
learn that as the soul prospers over the body, so 
the power of eternity prospers over eternity. As 
the spiritual part prospers over the physical, so 
Kali prospers over Siva, — i.e., eternity (Kali being 
the power of eternity). The grasp of Kali is very 
wide, by which we learn that everything shall be 
swallowed in time. These are the divine attributes 
of the Almighty, by which the mind of a true 
Hindu is alw;ys enlightened." 

'Eow, let us contrast with the above a paper given 
me by Miss Hook, of the American Zenana Mis- 
sion at Calcutta, who is an earnest worker in the 
cause of Christianity in India. 

"We learn from the most ancient shasters of the 



THIRTY-THREE MILLION GODS. 185 

Hindus, tliat in the early ages they believed in one 
God, and did not bow down to idols, but were emi- 
nently a religious people. But before they came 
jfrom Central Asia to occupy India, they had com- 
menced deifying horses and natural objects, l^ot 
content with one God, they must have thirty-three 
million ! 

" Their ancient books contain some beautiful 
hymns and prayers to one Supreme Being ; but as 
time advanced — not having any divine revelation 
to guide them — they began to lose sight of the 
Invisible Maker and to worship visible objects, 
such as the sun, moon, fire, wind, water. Alas, 
how low the human heart can sink when left to its 
own imaginations ! 

" The Hindu shasters give Brahma as the creator 
of the world. After this he makes Yishnu the 
preserver of all things, and then retires, or, as some 
say, goes to sleep on a lotus-leaf. He is worshipped 
little, but Yishnu, being considered as more inter- 
ested in the affairs of the universe, is very univer- 
sally worshipped. 

" Siva, the third person of the trinity, is the de- 
stroyer, and is not less worshipped than Vishnu. 
His chief characteristics are severity and sensuality. 
He is depicted as sitting on a mountain, lost in 

16* 



186 HOLY PLACES OF THE HINDUS. 

meditation, wearing a necklace of human skulls ; 
his hair is entwined with serpents that cling around 
his neck. His wife was at first called Durga. She 
dies because her father reproaches her husband, 
and is born again, and at different periods has many- 
different names. One was Kali, signifying black, 
and her history is as follows : 

" There was a very troublesome demon, and Siva 
being requested to destroy him, sent his wife to do 
it. If, in killing the demon, one drop of his blood 
should fall upon the ground, thousands of demons 
would spring up to torment the world. So they 
went up in the air, and there a terrible battle was 
fought. Kali was finally victorious, and cut off his 
head; but lest his blood should fall to the earth, she 
drank it. 

" After thus getting a taste of blood. Kali be- 
came so furious that she went on killing every- 
thing that came in her way, until the gods, in alarm 
for the safety of the world, besought Siva to stop 
his wife in her proceedings. Siva repaired to the 
place; but his wife was not to be caught, so he 
resorted to stratagem. 

"Knowing her fondness for a certain kind of 
liquor, he placed little cups of it all along the road 
he expected her to come, and then lay down to 



A LUCRATIVE GODDESS. 187 

await her. His trick was quite successful. She 
came along drinking, and before she was aware of 
her husband's presence, she stepped on his body, 
and, in shame, put out her tongue. Hence she is 
represented as a hideous, black woman, with her 
tongue hanging out. The Hindus, when they are 
ashamed, put out their tongues in imitation of Kali. 
Her fighting so long very near the sun is the cause 
of her being blacker than Durga. 

" The worship of Kali is lucrative to the priests. 
Her tongue is always of gold, and at stated periods 
a collection is made from the people to give her a 
new tongue, and the old one goes to the priests. 
All classes of Hindus make rich offerings to the 
shrine of Kali, and sacrifice goats to her. These 
pay their devotions to Kali in order to secure her 
assistance in carrying on their villanous designs. 
At the same time, they are not afraid to make dep- 
redations upon her person and shrine, and more 
than once she has been robbed of her precious 
ornaments. ^Notwithstanding she has power to 
destroy giants and demons, she cannot protect her 
shrine trom spoliation. 

" A great many stories are told of Kali ; some 
rather conflicting, but all agree that she slaughtered 
many victims. She is also represented with their 



188 HOLY PLACES OF THE HINDUS, 

heads formed in a garland about her neck. On one 
occasion, after slaying two giants, it is said, with a 
human head in her hand she danced on the corpses 
of her victims until, in her ecstatic joy, she shook 
the earth to its foundations, and at the request of 
the gods, Siva repaired to the spot to persuade her 
to desist, or to dance more moderately. 

" The Hindu shasters contain so much trash that 
one wonders that they could make any impression 
on any one with common sense. Stranger still, that 
a people should think of satisfying the cravings of 
their souls with such gods as objects of worship ; 
but, poor things, they have never tasted anything 
better. 

" As for the women, few of them know anything 
beyond the names of the gods to which they bow ; 
but custom has its iron rule, and God alone can 
break it down." 

To sum up, the chief feature of this patched, 
perverted, and complicated faith seems to be a 
gaudy ritual to appease angry deities. It has no 
eternity, but urges absorption into Brahm as the 
final end to be coveted. Its very gods commit in- 
cest and murder; yet the masses of India follow it 
implicitly as the way to their mythical Kylas. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE INDIAN CAPITAL. 

It is a common law of nature, which no time will ever change, 
that superiors shall rule their inferiors. — Dionysius of Halicar- 

NASSXJS. "" 

Our allotted week in Benares was only too brief 
for what Bunyan would call " the rarities of that 
place." But the approach of Christmas reminded 
us that we were due in Calcutta. One sweep of 
five hundred miles, across the crowded Presidency 
of Bengal, would land us there — ^the living capital 
of India. 

The journey consumed almost a day; but during 
all that time we saw no Bengal tigers, or Thugs, 
or other dangerous creatures popularly associated 
with the province. Thuggism, which means strang- 
ling and robbing the unwary in the name of re- 
ligion, was finally suppressed in 1830. And the 
lordly tiger, like the bison of our prairies, has 
retired from the vicinity of the railway. 

We did see, however, myriads of the puny Ben- 

189 



190 THE INDIAN CAPITAL. 

galees, in the manj" villages, towns, and cities along 
the line. In all they number about sixty millions, 
— not far from the entire population of ITorth 
America. Their condition, as a rule, indicates a 
struggle for the meanest necessities, despite the 
fertility of the great plain, watered b}^ the Granges 
and its tributaries. The soil yields richly of rice, 
indigo, cotton, hemp, and opium. 

While much of this penury is due to the nature 
of a tropical people, still the expensive character of 
the government is a prominent factor. With all 
its enormous revenues, gathered chiefly from the 
poor, the finances of the new Empire already show 
a deficit. This might be obviated if excessive 
allowances to nominal rajahs and rich salaries to 
officials were reduced to a scale commensurate with 
the means of the masses. 

As a consequence of the present basis of remu- 
neration, the scramble of Englishmen and educated 
natives, for lucrative posts, may be compared to the 
plague of office-seeking in America. British rule 
has done much for the political health of India, 
and doubtless this wasting sore will soon receive 
attention. 

We alighted from the train at the terminus in 
Howrah, virtually a section of the capital, across 



EFFECTS OF THE CLIMATE. 191 

the Hoogly. The river, one of the mouths of the 
Ganges, is spanned by a fine bridge, from which 
one sees miles of shipping in passing over to the 
hotel. 

Instead of a " City of Palaces," our first impres- 
sion of Calcutta was rather that of a " City of Bad 
Smells." Owing to the lowness of the ground and 
the consequent difficulty of drainage, many of the 
streets exhale an odor like that of decaying vege- 
table matter. The effect of this in summer, when 
aggravated by the intense, moist heat, is to render 
the place feverish and unhealthy. Then the vice- 
regal court, attended by its legion of followers, 
migrates to the mountain air of Simla, twelve 
hundred miles into the interior. 

This absence of the government for quite half 
the year, is said to be the cause of the want of good 
hotels in Calcutta. So brief a season is not remu- 
nerative. The best establishment, located on one 
of the principal streets, opposite the Government 
House, is inadequate for its winter patronage, 
shabby, primitive, and uncomfortable. 

Every visitor is expected to employ two individ- 
ual servants, a host of whom are always in waiting; 
one to attend in the room and the other at table. 
Without these slow parasites one would most likely 



192 THE INDIAN CAPITAL. 

retire to an unmade bed, or waste much time in 
the gloomy dining-hall. There are no bells, but 
"the boy" sleeps upon a mat outside your door, 
and often snores or coughs the night long. Soon 
after daylight the babel commences, within and 
without the house ; and a little later your soft^footed 
Hindu steals in with the morning tea, uncalled and 
unannounced. 

The instant a stranger issues fi-om the contracted 
door- way to the street, he is beset by palkee-bearers, 
gharry-wallahs (drivers), and persistent venders of 
trifles, from a visiting-card or a cane to a hat or a 
parrot in a cage. Even when we started out in 
dress suits and white ties, these leeches ran after 
the carriage for a block or more, maybe to press 
the sale of a plumed bird ! 

Early one morning, while we were sitting in our 
room, the hotel began to tremble, as if a heavily- 
laden cart was passing along the narrow side street. 
Instead of diminishing after a few seconds, the 
quivering increased. We both instinctively rose 
from the chairs, and the boy then with us started 
from his seat on the floor. I went to the window 
to ascertain the cause of the movement, but saw 
nothing, — not even a vehicle of light burden. The 
mirror on the wall was now bowing to us, and the 



EXPERIENCING AN EARTHQUAKE. 193 

unused punka (fan) overhead swung two or three 
niches sidewise. An ominous rumbling accom- 
panied the vibration, which continued about ninety 
seconds, and explained the phenomenon. We were 
experiencing our first earthquake. 

During the day everybody talked of the shock, 
and the next morning's papers announced that it 
had been severely felt along the coast to Madras, 
alarming the people and here and there demolish- 
ing a house. The superstitious Hindus flocked to 
the temples to mollify the angry gods, or to cleanse 
the air of evil spirits, by making offerings and 
sacrifices, as they did when we were in Agra, upon 
the occasion of an eclipse of the moon. 

The English quarter of the capital is not un- 
worthy the aspiring title which Calcutta bears, — the 
City of Palaces. Its Fifth Avenue, called Chowrin- 
ghee Road, is two miles in length, broad, and bor- 
dered with stone mansions, each set in its own 
compound, or garden. 

Adjoining this aristocratic section, and reaching 
over to the Hoogly, is an immense common, parade, 
or pleasure ground, called the Maidan, six miles in 
circumference. This spread of turf is partly skirted 
with tropical trees, and ornamented with a lofty 
monument and several bronze statues, erected in 

I n 17 



194 THE INDIAN CAPITAL. 

honor of men prominent in Anglo-Indian history. 
Partially facing this park, on the side near the 
business district, stands the imposing, orange-hued 
residence of the Viceroy, — the Q-overnment House. 
Its design is not unlike that of the Capitol at 
"Washington, reduced in size and elegance, and 
with the wings forming a crescent. 

In the same vicinity we find the Eden Gardens, 
where a long line of equipages land theu' occupants 
just at nightfall, to promenade a half-hour and 
listen to the music. The spot is truly a beautiful 
one, close to the shipping and lighted by elec- 
tricity. Continuing southward along the river, 
and the edge of the Maidan, is the Strand, the 
fashionable drive, upon which the pale beauty, 
wealth, and dignity of the capital gather late in the 
afternoon. 

Lower down, we halted to visit the encampment 
of a regiment of Sikh cavalry, and farther on, to 
watch a game of equestrian polo. Beyond these, 
we entered the gate of Fort "William, around which 
Lord Clive successfully struggled (1756-57) to 
found the British Empire in India. 

The famous Black Hole, which was in what is 
now the business section, has disappeared. "Within 
its walls, eighteen feet square, one hundred and 



THE BOTAJSriCAL GARDENS. 195 

forty-six Europeans and Eurasians (half-breeds) 
were confined overnight, in the most oppressive 
season, by the savage ]!^awab, when he captured 
the settlement, on the 19th of June, 1756. Upon 
opening the door the next morning, a hundred and 
twenty-three were found dead of suffocation. 

Another afternoon we drove over the bridge and 
through the animated streets of Howrah, to the 
superb Botanical Gardens. The enclosure contains 
an area of three hundred acres, and displays long 
avenues of various palms, — ^the sago, the cocoanut, 
the Mauritius, the areca, the talipot, and other 
species. Near the gate, a noble banyan-tree spreads 
its branches and progeny of roots to a circumfer- 
ence of nearly three hundred yards. 

Across the river from the Botanical Gardens the 
deposed King of Oudh lives in royal state, sustain- 
ing about his palace the semblance of a court. His 
chief occupation is to collect tigers and serpents, 
which he exhibits to strangers upon certain days 
of each month. 

One morning we went with the American Consul- 
General, and a small party, to the suburb known 
as Kalighat, to witness the offering of living sacri- 
fices, at the shrine there dedicated to Kali, the san- 
guinary goddess. The rites proved the same as 



196 THE INDIAN CAPITAL. 

those described in connection with the Monkey 
Temple of Benares. As the time for the ceremony 
approached, a hundred or more people assembled, 
several leading or carrying kids. The appointed 
hour passed, yet all stood unconcerned and talking. 
After a further wait, we inquired the cause of the 
delay. 

The Brahmin who acted as our guide then ex- 
plained that the flesh of the animals, after they are 
killed, is taken away by the owners ; but that the 
body of the first victim must be donated to the 
priests. Upon this occasion, it so happened that 
nobody had tendered the required present ! Hence 
they were unable to proceed. 

Eeco2:nizino: this shallow statement as one of the 
usual mercenary shifts, we contributed an amount 
(three rupees) equal to the value of a young goat. 
This, our informant said, with a pleased expression, 
would overcome the difficulty. 

The executioner now appeared, and the Hindus 
crowded around the wooden vise, in the area be- 
fore the temple. But again there was a detention. 
This time, because the Brahmins officiating that 
day wanted two offerings for themselves ! Such 
effrontery was not to be tolerated, and we left just 
as they actually commenced, more than ever mar- 



IN THE THOROUGHFARES. 197 

veiling at the Hindu religion and its venal expo- 
nents. Four priests, all of whom spoke English, 
followed us to the carriages, and there quarrelled 
among themselves about a division of the baksheesh. 
The incident will afford some conception of Brah- 
minism as it exists in the capital of India. 

From this degrading exhibition we turned into 
the thoroughfares of the Illative Quarter, first pass- 
ing through that appropriated by the invading 
children of Cathay. The Celestials are princi- 
pally shoemakers, tailors, laundrymen, and wicker- 
workers. Beyond, in the China Bazaar, which has 
a mongrel aspect, — a mixture of the Oriental and 
the European, — ^we were solicited by dealers in 
English, Chinese, and Indian goods. Farther on, 
among the Hindus, the streets are narrower, and 
scores of Nautch girls sat on the balconies fronting 
the second floor of the houses. 

In one of the most unlikely neighborhoods we 
came to the spacious gardens and palace of a Maha- 
rajah, upon whom the Consul-General was bringing 
us to call. The sentries by the gates saluted as we 
entered, and within the compound plumed cranes, 
as tall as ourselves, stalked about with fearless dig- 
nity. Upon alighting at the covered portal, a 

servant in bright livery ushered us into the drawing- 

17* 



198 THE INDIAN CAPITAL. 

room. There we were joined by the aged Maha- 
rajah and his four sons, all of whom had received 
an academic English education. The venerable 
father was ennobled by the Indian government on 
account of his wealth and beneficence. 

Art is the pursuit of the entire family, and, with 
ample means at their command, they have loaded 
the palace with paintings, statuary, and objects of 
virtu from every land. Besides this large collection, 
they had been engaged for twelve years in laying 
mosaic floors of rare marbles, so elaborate as to 
rival the finest in Europe. In this labor of pleasure 
they work under the leadership of the eldest son, 
who prepares all the designs. 

After viewing the difierent apartments, except 
those devoted to the zenanas, we were shown, in the 
gardens, a small menagerie and many tropical birds. 
At parting, the Maharajah presented each with a 
bouquet, and wished us a safe return to our country. 

Calcutta has several notable institutions of learn- 
ing, both for English and native studies. But, un- 
fortunately, education has not proved as effective as 
could be desired, in the task of regenerating the 
spiritual life of the people. They readily embrace 
its temporal benefits, but few abandon the outer, if 
they do the inner, observances of their banefal 



TEACHING THE WOMEN. 199 

religion. The social penalties incurred are yet the 
great obstacle to a change of faith. If a Hindu 
renounces caste and accepts Christianity, he imperils 
the chance of a living among his people. Surely 
this moral, or rather immoral, despotism must sooner 
or later fall of its own pernicious weight ; but the 
day of emancipation is apparently distant and un- 
certain. 

There is still another avenue of hope for India, 
and one which I cannot hut think is the most prom- 
ising path, " Zenana teachers," writes Miss Hook, 
" are sowing a large proportion of the seed that 
will grow up and fill this land. We venture to 
prophesy that the women of India will yet take the 
initiative in the conversion of the nation." 

If the mother can be raised from idolatry the 
child must follow. Better still, to reach the young 
girl before her mind has become torpid, from tradi- 
tional custom and seclusion. As men are rigor- 
ously excluded from the harems of the East, only 
women can labor in this field. Such, then, is the 
work of the zenana missions. The American 
Home in Calcutta, over which Miss Hook so faith- 
fally presides, assisted by other ladies, has twelve 
hundred children, mostly of heathen parents, under 
tuition. 



200 THE INDIAN CAPITAL. 

On the afternoon preceding Christmas, we at- 
tended a festival of one of these zenana schools, 
when each little girl, in her holiday dress, came for- 
ward, as her name was called, and received a doll. 
A hymn concluded the exercises, and as the child- 
ish voices chanted the song of praise, I felt deeply 
the meaning of the occasion. Although conscious 
of the singing, my eyes and thoughts were upon 
Miss Hook. Pale and feverish fi-om overwork, she 
sat quietly regarding the children, but with a 
play of light upon her features that was not to be 
mistaken. How great the value in life one frail 
creature can make herself! But a good woman is 
the handiwork of the Creator. 

That evening we sat within the chancel of the 
church of Dr. Thorburn, the American pastor, and 
looked over a congregation that I would have sup- 
posed it impossible to gather. They were faces of 
the very color we had met in the temples of Be- 
nares and Kalighat. Indeed, after seeing them, I 
doubted for a time the accuracy of my low estimate 
of the masses of Hindustan. 

Further reflection, however, recalled the unhappy 
fact that here are only hundreds out of millions in 
the depths. Dr. Thorburn has wrought earnestly, 
and to some purpose; at the same time demon- 



THE VICEREGAL COURT. 201 

strating for the encouragement of others that toil 
is not in vain. 

Society in Calcutta, the world of the viceregal . 
court, is largely composed of civil and military i 
officers, with a sprinkling of churchmen, rajahs, 1 
merchants, professors, and foreign consuls. Many | 
of the natives have also attained positions of wealth i 
and influence, entitling them to places on the Vice-1 
roy's invitation list. A continuous round of balls, 1 
receptions, and garden-parties marks the winter ! 
m.onths. They are not unlike the gatherings in i 
which fashionable Londoners so delight during \ 
their season. Yet with all these gayeties the \ 
Anglo-Indian pines for home, and looks forward ' 
to his return there as the happiest day of his 
life. 

We regretted greatly to be forced to leave the 
city just before one of these events at the Govern- 
ment House, which would have given us an oppor- 
tunity to see the notables of the Empire, under the 
best auspices. The Consul-General kindly pressed 
us to remain for the occasion, but the departure of 
the fortnightly steamer and our long journey ahead, 
impelled us to hasten on around the world. 



CHAPTER IX. 

IN THE HIMALAYAS. 

Fit throne for such a Power ! Magnificent ! 
How glorious art thou, Earth 1 And if thou be 
The shadow of some spirit lovelier still, 
Though evil stain its work, and it should be 
Like its creation, weak yet beautiful, 
I could fall down and worship that and thee. 
Even now my heart adoreth : Wonderful ! 

Shelley. 

Having explored Calcutta, we had now seen the 
chief cities and the great plain of Hindustan, 
stretching away to Bombay and Lahore. But as 
yet we could only boast of a distant glimpse of the 
mighty Himalayas. This we had from the railway 
at TJmballa, the point of connection for Simla, the 
summer capital. 

True, we might have visited that resort, which 
is located on the lower slope of the "hills." Or, 
there was nothing to prevent a departure from the 
line at Saharunpore, whence the beautiful valley of 
Dehrah Doon and the majestic views from Landour 

202 



NORTHWARD TO THE HILLS. 203 

are within easy reacli. These, however, we passed, 
in anticipation of a trip to Darjeeling. There we 
should behold the sublimest of the Himalayan 
scenery, and the loftiest peaks of the world. 

Early in the afternoon of a warm, oppressive day 
we left Calcutta, from the Sealdah Station, and 
travelled northward by the new railway. In less 
than an hour we passed through Barrackpore, 
where the government arsenal is located, the scene 
of the affair of the greased cartridges, so memora- 
ble in the Mutiny. After running rather more 
than a hundred miles, over a level country dotted 
with bamboo villages, we came to the banks of the 
Ganges. Here, as there was no bridge, a steam- 
boat carried us over the broad stream, breasting 
the strong current and continually sounding, to 
avoid the many shoals. During the forty minutes 
on board they gave us a modest dinner. 

On the other side of the river we found a train 
with the usual sleeping-carriages, in one of which 
our resais (quilts) were soon spread. All night long 
we traversed a low, swampy plain, which abounds 
with feathered game. Early morning brought us 
to the terminus at Silliguri, about three hundred 
miles from Calcutta. 

After breakfast we again started ; now upon the 



204 IN THE HIMALAYAS. 

narrow-gauge steam tramway, then lately com- 
pleted. Away tlie little engine sped across the 
deadly Serai, a malarious, marshy jungle in which 
no European can steadily reside. It forms a belt 
sixteen miles wide, directly at the foot of the hills. 
In this section tigers and leopards are plenty, and 
the untamed elephant is at home. That is, if re- 
port is true, as I never saw an assortment of wild 
animals strung out along the roads. 

"We now began to ascend the Himalayas. The 
tall undergrowth gave way to forest-trees and the 
tea plantations, for which the Darjeeling district 
and the neighboring province of Assam are noted. 
Higher up, the fields were adorned with flowers, 
yellow and purple, blue and lilac. Great clumps 
of bamboo lifted then- feathery tops to a surprising 
height, and blooming creepers let down their rope- 
like tendrils fifty feet or more from the overhanging 
branches of the woody monarchs. 

Boldly winding onward and upward, the minia- 
ture locomotive abated nothing of its hurried pace. 
Steaming and smoking, as if warmed by the undue 
exertion, it dashed into the hamlet of Teendaria, 
and halted for a rest. 

In a few minutes our iron horse was again climb- 
ing the noiseless hills, now and then startling them 




A HILL SANITARIUM. 



INVADING nature's GLORIES. 205 

with a defiant screecii of the whistle. One mo- 
ment, perhaps, the eye dwelt upon distant peaks or 
a gigantic ravine ; while in the next, on rounding 
a slope, a panorama of surpassing grandeur opened 
like a vision. Below us lay the wooded summits, 
descending from one to another, and beyond them 
a boundless plain, ribboned with a silvery stream, 

" Murmuring adown from Himalay's broad feet, 
To bear its tribute unto Gunga's wave." 

Now, for the first time during the season, our 
heavy overcoats were required. The moist heat of 
Calcutta had been gradually exchanged ■ for the 
wintry mountain breezes. At times, the rails led 
us perilously near the edge of the precipice, but 
accidents are said to be rare. Even with such ex- 
pedients, some of the curves are so acute that it 
was a surprise to see them turned by a locomotive. 
In one place, called the Loop, the line crossed itself 
on a bridge, within a length of about five hundred 
feet. 

Familiar bullock-carts crept along the roadway 
beside the track, but they were no longer accom- 
panied by puny Bengalees. We had penetrated to 
the region of a sturdier race, bearing the stamp of 
Mongolian origin upon their features. Many were 

18 



206 IN THE HIMALAYAS. 

leading black pigs that took fright at the train and 
attempted to bolt into the thicket, but were held 
back by cords attached to the hind legs. The 
struggle was very ludicrous, and invariably ended 
when, with his hams pulled from under him and 
his forefeet extended, the pig lay prone upon the 
ground, unable to move. 

Amid these and other diversions, about noon we 
ran into the curious village of Kurseong, forty-six 
hundred feet above the sea, where we had tiffin. 
From this point, looking downward, the views 
were grand in the extreme ; but the great chain 
above us was hidden by dense masses of clouds. 
The strange people at Kurseong occupied our brief 
stay there, but we studied the same types to better 
advantage at our destination. 

Once more we took places in the small, open 
cars, and rolled away, followed by the merry shouts 
of the villagers. As we rose towards the snowy 
range, comfort demanded a rug for the knees and 
feet. Such a contrast with the sensations of twenty- 
four hours previous! The ascent now became 
steeper, and our speed much slower. "We had 
taken a stronger engine at Kurseong, but it was 
tried to the utmost by the heavy grade and short 
curves. 



IN CLOUDLAND. 207 

Tree ferns and towering oaks, set in beds of wild 
flowers, here bordered tbe pathway. Occasionally, 
we came upon a gang of coolies engaged in clear- 
ing away one of the frequent landslips. Beyond 
Sonada — another of. the euphonious hill names — 
we entered into cloudland ; not a dreamy, mental 
territory, but a damp, chilly reality. 

Once, the struggling locomotive stopped in a 
rocky pass, entirely out of breath; and while it 
waited to gather steam, we walked nearly a mile. 
The engineer declined our challenge to race the 
train, as well as a proposition to pull it as far as the 
next station. An Indian "peg" (cognac and soda), 
at the last bungalow, and the bracing air, made us 
feel equal to any feat. 

Trackless gorges and noisy torrents succeeded 
each other at intervals, spanned by substantial 
arched bridges. Hardy peasants, of the hill tribes, 
passed in growing numbers ; some driving buffaloes 
or goats, and others carrying burdens held upon 
their backs, by a strap reaching across the forehead. 
A few moments later we rattled into the village of 
Jhor, seven thousand four hundred feet above the 
sea. Snow was falling lightly, and piercing winds 
swept through the exposed car. 

Our attention was at once attracted by a myriad 



208 IN THE HIMALAYAS. 

of rags, several on a pole, one below the other, 
flying from the shanty-tops. A closer inspection 
showed that they bore written characters. These 
were prayers, inscribed by the Lamas and hung out 
by the credulous, to paralyze evil spirits in the air. 
We were among the adherents of a corrupt Bud- 
dhism ; tribes hailing from Thibet, the frontier of 
which is distant, as the bee flies, only about a hun- 
dred and fifty miles. 

After leaving Jhor, the incline was, slightly down- 
ward, for the three or four miles remaining to be 
accomplished. This fact encouraged our feeble 
engine to a reckless degree, considering the nature 
of that section of the line. At several bends, 
around which the train was sharply jerked, the 
step projecting along the side of the car fairly 
overhung the frightful brink. It may be a " tri- 
umph of engineering" to build a railway so close 
to the verge of death ; but in the present instance, 
as an approach to a sanitarium, it has the aspect of 
a dismal jest. 

"We were now within range of the snowy " Roof 
of the World," — facing august Kanchinjanga, next 
to the loftiest peak, — although the veil of clouds 
denied us the coveted view. 

" There's Darjeeling !" exclaimed the tea-planter 



AN INDIAN SANITARIUM. 209 

at my side. Ahead lay a picturesque town of 
white houses, clinging to the slopes of a group of 
hills. "What a swarm of uncouth humanity sur- 
rounded the few passengers upon alighting ! Odd 
figures strove with each other, amid a war of 
words, for the privilege of carrying the baggage. 
Presently, we were climbing the ridge to the cosey 
hotel, preceded by two laughing damsels bearing 
our heavy portmanteaus. 

It was the third time in India that young ladies 
had paid us such an attention, and my companion 
carefully noted this important item in his diary. 
The short winter's afternoon was fast waning when 
we sat down before a crackling fire, in our comfort- 
able room, nearly thirty-five miles into the laby- 
rinth of the Himalayas. 

When we awoke on the morning after our ar- 
rival at Darjeeling, the snowy range was still hidden 
among the clouds. Had our stay been limited to a 
day or two, this would have caused a serious dis- 
appointment. But we had arranged to spend a 
week in the Himalayas, to benefit by the invigo- 
rating tonic of the mountain air. Even as it was, 
we were greatly concerned, knowing that it some- 
times continues overcast or stormy for a fortnight. 

Indeed, the annual rainfall is no less than a hundred 
18* 



210 IN THE HIMALAYAS. 

and fifteen inches. And now the leaden hue over- 
head reminded us of what might occur. 

It was Sunday, a holiday on the tea plantations, 
which the pagan natives utilize for their weekly 
bazaar, or market. This was a favorable chance 
to see examples of the several mountain tribes, so 
we went down the hill from the hotel and into the 
town, on foot. Beyond the railway station, on the 
main road, thirty or forty shaggy ponies were 
ranged along the fence. About them stood knots 
of men, including three or four Europeans, bar- 
gaining, talking, or bent on the action of a little 
horse dashing to and fro, urged by a Thibetan 
rider. 

Farther on, we turned into a passage lined with 
the usual Oriental shops, which led us to the open 
square where the bulk of the people were as- 
sembled. Grain, clothing, sweetmeats, household 
stores, and various trifling articles lay in rows, 
spread on mats, upon the ground. The venders, 
both male and female, sat beside their wares, occa- 
sionally a man in front, and near by his plump 
wife, suckling a child. 

Above all others in the throng we notice first 
the Bhoteas, a herculean race hailing from Bhotan 
and the neighboring hills of Thibet. They have 



A FRONTIER TRIBE. 211 

Mongolian features and retain the Chinese queue. 
Their dress is a long, coarse woollen robe, bound at 
the waist with a belt, in which they carry a for- 
midable curved knife, a pair of chopsticks, and 
generally a pipe. 

The women have large, ruddy faces, with high 
cheek-bones, and thick hair hanging in two plaits. 
A fillet, set with coral, turquoise, or glass beads, 
usually encircles the head, and a string of amber 
or of square pendants, mostly of silver, adorns the 
neck. Round ear-rings, so large and heavy as to 
deform the ear, and a girdle of brass or silver 
links, complete the array of bulky jewelry. A 
warm, padded skirt of wool, and a jacket of the 
same material, often in bright colors, form their 
outer garments. As a rule, both sexes are slovenly, 
rarely washing themselves, and seldom changing 
their clothing until wear and tear renders it neces- 
sary. 

The Bhoteas, females as well as males, are the 
hill coolies and drudges. Apparently, they are 
never more content and docile than when bending 
forward, like Atlas, under a great burden, held 
upon the back by a grass band passing across the 
forehead. As a compliment to her husband, a wife 
daubs her nose and cheeks with tar, that she may 



212 IN THE HIMALAYAS. 

no longer be tlie Siune dangerous attraction for 
other men tliat she proved for him. 

The singular practice of polyandry exists among 
this people, as it does in Thibet. When the woman 
marries one of two or more brothers, she becomes 
equally the bride of all ; and no distinction is made 
in fathering the children of such a union. 

The religion of the Bhoteas is a species of Bud- 
dhism, similar to that of Thibet, and administered 
by crafty Lamas, subject to the Dalai Lama, or 
sovereign pontiff", at Lhassa. Those greasy, beg- 
ging priests wander about, leading an indolent life, 
and pretending to subsist upon charity. In reality, 
they derive a living by trading upon the supersti- 
tion of the populace. 

As one source of income the Lamas sell the mani, 
or praying-machine. This is an inscribed cylinder 
of sheet-copper, exceeding t^'o inches in diameter 
and rather less in depth, which revolves upon a wire 
axis thrust into a wooden handle. Inside is a roll of 
paper, several feet in length, written from beginning 
to end, in debased Sanskrit, with a repetition of the 
mystic formula of Lord Buddha's faith : 
" Oni! Mani padme htm." 

By some Oriental scholars this is translated, " ! 
the jewel is in the lotus,'' and by others, " Glory 



LAMA WORSHIP. 213 

to the Deity," or, " Salvation is in the lotus." The 
reference is to one of the leading divinities of La- 
maism, the disposer of joy and happiness, in the 
belief that he was born from a lotus. These six 
syllables have attained such importance that the 
entire creed hangs upon their power. 

" I take my refuge in thy Order ! Om 1 
The dew is on the lotus I Kise, Great Sun 1 
And lift my leaf and mix me with the wave. 
Om mani padme hum, the Sunrise comes ! 
The Dewdrop slips into the shining Sea." 

As the Bhotea counts the beads of his rosary, he 
repeatedly mutters this strange invocation, and 
turns the praying-machine, — easily kept in motion 
because of a small metal ball attached by a short 
chain to the periphery. A similar apparatus, on a 
large scale and worked by a winch, is found at the 
entrance to their shanty temples. 

The services consist mainly in ringing bells, 
blowing trumpets, clashing cymbals, and beating 
gongs and drums. Along the roads and on the 
hill-sides they place offerings of rice; and some- 
times their prayers, written on rags and tied to 
sticks, will form a continuous line for two or three 
hundred feet up a slope. 



214 IN THE HIMALAYAS. 

Besides the Bhoteas, in the Sunday bazaar, we 
see the diminutive but muscular Lepchas, the sup- 
posed aborigines, a lazy, nomadic tribe, fond of 
games and having many curious customs. The 
women have a weakness for trinkets, and the men 
for long hair, which their wives dutifully inspect (!) 
and dress for them, in the pigtail style. Con- 
versely, a father demurely rocks the cradle while a 
mother labors in the vegetable-patches. 

Then we find the Limbos, a family closely allied 
to the Lepchas, but braver and more distinctly 
Mongolian. Their faith is a mixture of Hinduism 
with the Buddhist creed ; and they are said to buy 
their wives. 'Next, there is a proportion of Ben- 
galees, with whom we are already familiar from 
our travels on their great plain. 

Lastly, but most numerous of all, the active 
!N'epaulese claim our attention. They are lighter 
in physique than the other classes, yet not less 
independent and useful. Li their own narrow, 
mountain country, which bounds the Darjeeling 
district on the west, the Grhorkas, or dominant 
clan, are warlike and jealous of their freedom. 
Here, as well as there, they carry a heavy, wicked 
knife, known as a hikery. I^early all the hands 
employed on the tea plantations are lisTepaulese, 



OBSTINATE CLOUDS. 215 

the women being preferred to tlie men on account 
of having a lighter touch. Their belief inclines to 
Hinduism, but preserves certain Buddhist and early 
idolatrous rites. 

On the third morning of our sojourn at Darjeel- 
ing we had a glimpse of the snowy summit of 
Kanchinjanga, but only for a few moments. Later 
in the day, when it promised to clear again, we 
walked along the upper road, past a line of pretty 
residences, to the Observatory, The position is a 
commanding one, but the clouds obstinately re- 
fused to leave the peaks. As a consolation, we 
could only look down into the wooded ravine of 
the Ranjit River, six thousand feet below. The 
stream is crossed by a primitive bridge, of rattan, 
bamboo, and the branches of trees. 

The same afternoon, stimulated by the crisp air, 
we tramped around the hills, up one path and down 
another, in search of the Happy Yalley Tea Gar- 
dens. Every step over the frosty ground seemed 
to add its quota of renewed life and strength, and 
to prepare us for the coming siege of equatorial 
heat. 

Confased, instead of assisted, by the complicated 
directions given us in the town, we at length wan- 
dered into the compound of a bungalow, and re- 



210 IN THE HIMALAYAS. 

ceived a polite welcome from three Jesuit fathers. 
Eather pleased than otherwise at our chance intru- 
sion, they walked with us to a ledge overlooking 
a lower range of hills, and pointed out the Happy 
Valley, far below. "When we finally reached the 
spot, the manager's wife, in his absence, in^dted 
us into their home for a cup of fragrant Pekoe, 
before taking us over the estate. 

We were much entertained in the Happy Valley 
G lU'dens, watching a large force of hardy N"epaulese 
engaged in pruning, which they did ^Ndth rapidity 
and skill. Young women with substantial ankles 
smiled among themselves at our curiosity to see 
their simple work, and mothers mth babies tied to 
their backs were equally amused at being so closely 
observed . Witii few wants v,h|ippy:,.iCQnten^^^^ 
mindles^thus they toil, only too glad to earn a 
daily pittance of five annas, or about fourteen 
cents. 

Our hostess duly took us through the low, white 
buildings, where, in the season, the precious loaf is 
submitted to a mechanical process. First, a quan- 
tity is subjected to heat in copper pans, or spread 
on trays to v^Tlther ; next, rolled on a table or in a 
machine ; then allowed to ferment to a certain de- 
gree, followed by a slight sunning; and lastly, 



THE STORY OF TEA. 217 

exposed to a charcoal fire and there manipulated 
■until it becomes dry, shrunken, and crisp. This 
product is passed through sieves of difierent sizes, 
by which the finer and better grades are separated 
from the others. 

The treatment necessary to make green tea re- 
quires the unwilted leaf to be heated until the mass 
is glutinous, and finally, after the intervening stages, 
to be pressed into bags and beaten with flat sticks, 
which develops the greenish color. Thus we get 
our Hyson, Gunpowder, and Imperial. Teas are 
packed in cases lined with lead, and holding from 
eighty to a hundred pounds. 

Tea is the chief product of the Darjeeling dis- 
trict, as well as of the adjoining province of Assam, 
and more or less is grown westward along the ridges 
of the Himalayas, for upwards of a thousand miles. 
The slopes of the hills, from two thousand to five 
thousand feet above the level of the sea, afford the 
best soil and location for its growth, with a choice 
in favor of the lesser height. At that elevation 
there, is ample moisture, a vital requisite, and yet 
such as will freely pass away. 

Many of the plantations are laid out in terraces, 
one about two feet above the other, and some in 
ordinary fields. The bushes are set in rows and 

K 19 



218 IN THE HIMALAYAS. 

pruned between IsTovember and February, leaving 
tbem about twenty inches high. Early in the 
spring the plant " flushes," or sends out new shoots 
six to eight inches long, which it repeats every two 
or three weeks, for a period of eight months. These 
tender leaves are carefully picked and sorted, those 
from the tip of the stem, or the youngest, making 
the finest tea. According to the selection, we have 
Pekoe, Souchong, or Congou, or various names in 
other countries. Green tea differs from the black 
only in the mode of preparation. 

It was not yet light when we were awakened by 
a knock at the door, on our fourth morning at Dar- 
jeeling. The stars were shining, and the jackals 
still howling in dismal chorus, close to the house. 
ISTot a cloud could be seen, and the majesty of 
God was reflected from the mountain-tops. The 
advanced rays of coming dawn silvered the soaring 
peak of Kanchinjanga, while the snowy range, mo- 
ment by moment, caught the glow upon its eternal 
mantle of white. 

I had been writing until two or three hours past 
midnight, not daring to look at the watch, strug- 
gling to flnish my lengthy journal to date. Upon 
giving it the last carefal touches of revision, I went 
out on the porch in the vain hope of seeing the 



THE PINNACLE OF THE EARTH. 219 

unusually bold jackals. At that time the heavens 
were still overcast; so I retired, weary and with a 
throbbing head, little expecting to be called so 
early. But now all desire for sleep was instantly 
banished by the prospect of realizing one of the 
greatest features of our tour, — ^to behold the pin- 
nacle of the earth. 

Kanchinjanga is in fall view from Darjeeling, 
but not so with Everest. To see that monarch of 
mountains, as well as a lengthy sweep of the snow;^ 
range, one must ride six miles southeast to the 
summit of Mount Senchal. Jealous I^ature was 
now pleased to expose this dazzling vision; but 
who could say for how long ? There was no time 
to be lost. What would be our feelings if the 
misty veil should again be drawn before we could 
reach the distant eyrie ! The path thither is such 
that a pony cannot traverse it in less than two 
hours. 

In a few minutes we had disposed of eggs and 
tea, and were in the saddle. The two poor syces 
(running grooms), nearly nude and benumbed by 
the cold, barely kept up with our anxious, eager 
pace. Directly above the town, after a steep climb, 
we rode through the neat martial station of Jella- 
pahar, where all yet slept, except the lonely sentries 



220 IN THE HIMALAYAS. 

wrapped in great-coats. At one place we met a 
group of Hindus at their morning ablutions be- 
side a trickling spring, and farther on a band of 
villagers came along bearing two stuffed tigers, 
probably in observance of some pagan rite. 

As the sun rose and tinted the bills and valleys, 
the lofty peaks above shone resplendent in the 
purest white, against a background of spotless 
azure. So quickly had the clouds vanished that it 
was a wonder where they could be hiding, until we 
spied one resting like a river of cotton in the bed 
of a winding glen. ISTot far from our destination 
we passed the picturesque ruins of a town, aptly 
called the Chimneys, the remains of a deserted 
military sanitarium. 

"We left the ponies on an upper ridge of Senchal 
and mounted afoot to a cairn which marks the 
summit, an altitude of eight thousand six hundred 
feet. IsTo words can picture the sublime panorama 
which there greeted our vision. It was a pleasure 
known only to those who wander over the world 
seeking the glories of ll^Tature. 

There was Everest, eighty miles off, rising like a 
sugar-cone above the intervening hills, twenty-nine 
thousand feet high. Then, unobstructed to the 
view, outspread, rugged Kanchinjanga, sixty miles 



THE CEEATOR'S SANCTUARY. 221 

distant, which reaches twenty-eight thousand one 
hundred and fifty-six feet above the level of the sea. 
And, in addition to these presiding giants, the eye 
spanned a number of other peaks above twenty 
thousand feet in height, as well as more than a 
hundred miles of the "stainless ramps of huge 
Himala's wall." They stood 

" Kanged in white ranlfs against the blue — untrod, 
Infinite, wonderful — whose uplands vast, 
And lifted universe of crest and crag. 
Shoulder and shelf, green slope and icy horn, 8 

Eiven ravine, and splintered precipice 
Led climbing thought higher and higher, until 
It seemed to stand in Heaven and speak with gods." 

]^o ! not the lifeless gods of the poet's Buddhist, 
nor yet those of a soulless pantheism, but rather 
that exalted worship, that true church, by which 
the quickened spirit, without the services of priest 
or ritual, is brought into the holiest communion 
with the Creator. 



19* 



CHAPTER X. 

THE MADEAS PEESIDENCY. 

Outside of Indus, inside Ganges, lies 
a wide-spread country famed enough of j^ore ; 
Northward the peaks of caved Emddus rise, 
and southward Ocean doth confine the shore : 
She bears the yoke of various sovranties 
and various eke her creeds : While these adore 
vicious Mafoma, those to stock and stone 
how down, and eke to brutes among them grown. 

Camoens. 

Much to the surprise of all, the skies at Darjeel- 
ing were cloudless for three days after our expedi- 
tion to Mount Senehal. Thus it was when we 
turned our eyes toward the snowy range for the 
last time, and sped away on the return journey to 
Calcutta. So clear was the atmosphere that we 
saw the peak of Kanchinjanga as far as Siliguri, 
twelve miles from the base of the Himalayas, and 
nearly a hundred from the mountain. 

Our steamer for Madras, the " Ancona," of the 
Peninsular and Oriental line, was already in the 

222 



AN OVERPOWERING PRESENCE. 223 

Hoogly, loading for tlae long homeward voyage to 
London. She was announced to sail at dawn, on 
the third day after our arrival, so we went aboard 
before midnight. The ship was moored to the quay 
at Garden Reach, a suburb below the city, whither 
we drove by way of the favorite Strand. There 
we dragged through a miserable night, tormented 
by the heat and hungry mosquitoes. 

When we rose in the morning the steamer was 
cautiously descending the river, threading her way 
among the dangerous shoals and around the reaches, 
or bends. The low delta country is overrun with 
jungles, relieved only by an occasional mud village 
with its palm grove and fields of paddy. So slow 
was our progress that the tide ebbed before the sea 
was reached, compelling us to anchor for several 
hours. 

This, too, in spite of the overpowering presence 
of our gorgeous pilot. Such another as he would 
not dare to exist on the globe. Sir Joseph Porter, 
K.C.B., or the commander of any other navy, 
could never hope to rival the golden splendor of 
Ms uniform, nor to inspire the trembling awe which 
resulted from his stentorian address and lofty, un- 
approachable mien. Besides this terrible array, 
everybody was farther ground into the attitude of 



224 THE MADRAS PRESIDENCY. 

a pigmy by the fact tlaat he never appeared without 
spotless white cotton gloves. I can yet see him 
pressing them into place by crowding his fingers 
between each other. It would doubtless have been 
death to interrupt the operation. 

ISTot as a weakness, but rather as a source of 
strength, this personage frequently sacrificed him- 
self by going to the bar for a cocktail. I do not 
refer to any of the bars over which he was struggling 
to guide us safely, but to a dangerous one within 
the ship. 

During the enforced stoppage a rash passenger 
ventured to suggest a game of whist, which led to 
a frightful outbreak. "Whist, by !" thun- 
dered the magnificent, in a tone of vdthering 
scorn; "whist I Yesterday I took a steamer up 
the river ; last night I went to the theatre ; and 
to-day I am bringing this ship down ; and yet you 
ask me to play whist, by !" 

At last we were clear of the Hoogly, and steam- 
ing at fiill speed towards Madras. On the second 
day out we were almost within sight of Pooree, 
where the famous Temple of Juggernaut is located. 
Every March the image of the god is placed on an 
immense car, having sixteen wheels, and dragged 
through the streets. Myriads of pilgrims assemble 



JUGGERNAUT AND GOLCONDA. 225 

upon these occasions, and formerly many immo- 
lated themselves beneath the wheels. Happily, ', 
this method of fanatical suicide is now forbidden jl 
bj the English government. ^ / 

The idol of Juggernaut owes its prominence to 
the tradition that it contains a bone of Krishna, 
the Indian Apollo, one of the ten avatars of Vishnu. 
This worship of a relic, unusual to the Hindu faith, 
is a remnant of Buddhism, which once prevailed 
throughout the province of Orissa. 

I^ext day we passed Vizagapatam, whence comes 
the beautiful tortoise-shell and ivory-ware. Almost 
on a line directly westward from this port, and near 
Hyderabad, is Golconda, in the vicinity of which 
the great diamonds of the world were found. 
Farther south, close to the mouth of the Godavery, 
stands Coconada, which boasts a Hindu pagoda 
that competes in obscenity mth the [N'epaulese 
temple at Benares. 

On the fifth afternoon we distinguished Madras 
along the low coast, and as the ship approached the 
city we exchanged greetings with the outward- 
bound steamer " Ceylon," then sailing round the 
world with a company of tourists. 

Our trip from Calcutta had been a delightful one, 
— May weather, without a ripple ; but a petty an- 
P 



226 THE MADRAS PRESIDENCY. 

noyance was in store for the finish. The rules of 
the port forbid ships to enter without a pilot and 
after sundown. As the distance narrowed it be- 
came a race against the sun, and we lost by the 
merest trifle, — not more than ten minutes. Less 
than three hundred yards from the mole the " An- 
cona" halted and sounded a deep appeal for a wel- 
come, but in vain. A landsman might almost have 
taken the ship through the ample gateway ahead, 
yet for some unseen reason we could only anchor 
outside. 

But it was a glorious picture, all aglow with the 
hue of burning gold which decked the west, over 
the town and beyond the hills. Rocked by the 
measured swell, and yielding to the revery so apt 
to follow a disappointment, we unconsciously stood 

" Looking upon the evening and the flood, 
Which lay between the city and the shore, 
Paved with the image of the sky." 

Owing to a conflict of oblique seas, the coast 
about Madras is never free of surf. Even in the 
fairest weather the breakers roll in with tremen- 
dous force, and in stormy times it becomes dan- 
gerous and often impossible to land. A stranger 
wonders why so unfavorable and barren a site was 



RIDING THE SURF. 227 

cliosen for tlie capital and leading port of Southern 
India, 

Madras has no natural harbor whatever, and the 
present abortive breakwater, forming a haven of 
about a thousand square yards, was only com- 
menced within ten years. Even before the work 
was entirely completed, a tempest wrenched many 
of the gigantic blocks of concrete from their places, 
and opened great breaches in the walls. 

As no attempt had been made to repair this dis- 
aster, the basin was of little avail against the high 
seas. Judging by a glance, it will be difficult to 
erect any barrier that will long v^-thstand the vio- 
lent elements of destruction. 

Once inside, the ship was a centre for the deep 
Masulah boats, each manned by twelve nude, 
swarthy natives, and steered by a long oar. They 
are constructed without a single nail, threads of 
coir (cocoanut fibre) being used to sew the planks 
together. As one of these surged up to the steam- 
er's gangway, threatening to dash itself to pieces, 
we threw in our traps and jumped aboard. 

After making all reasonable effort to crash some 
of the other boats, involving the exchange of vol- 
umes of wordy abuse, our crew headed for the 
shore. One by one the billows overtook us, lifting 



228 THE MADRAS PRESIDENCY. 

our craft on high like a cork and dropping it 
again amid a shower of spray. 

Cargo is mostly received by the lighters and dis- 
charged at a long pier, not unlike those at Long 
Branch and Brighton; but for landing humanity 
preference is given to beaching. We were now 
about to undergo this exciting ordeal. 

Upon nearing the huge breakers the oarsmen 
braced themselves and pulled like Trojans, crying 
out in chorus to stimulate each other. Borne upon 
one foaming crest after another, in a moment the 
boat was safely resting on the sand. Then came 
the inevitable coolies, clad in a three-inch strip of 
muslin, to carry us upon their tawny shoulders be- 
yond the reach of the waves. 

Madras, with much more propriety than Wash- 
ington, might be called a city of " magnificent dis- 
tances." With a population of four hundred thou- 
sand souls, its disjointed length extends for nine 
miles along the sandy, torrid coast. The ethno- 
graphic divisions common to India are represented 
in its area of nearly thirty square miles. 

First, Black Town and its dependencies, practi- 
cally the Hindu quarter, but fronted towards the 
sea by public ofiices and business warehouses. This 
neighborhood contains the principal temple and 



THE CITY OF MADRAS. 229 

the Evening Bazaar, where the natives gather late 
in the afternoon for petty traffic or to chat with 
their Mends. 

Hext, Fort St. Greorge, which stands on a stretch 
of green, and the adjacent Senate House and Gov- 
ernment Mansion, with their gardens. Here we 
find a statue of Lord CornwaUis, who was Gov- 
ernor-General of India after his little mishap at 
Yorktown. He achieved better success with Tip- 
poo Sahib and his sons, in the Mysore war, than 
with "Washington and Lafayette. Extending south- 
ward from this vicinity is the foreign section, of 
which the main street is called Mount Road. The 
shops, like the yellow bungalows, are set each in 
its own compound. Lastly, we come to Triplicane 
and Chepauk, unsavory districts inhabited by 
seventy-five thousand Mohammedans. 

Madras was founded by the East Ladia Company 
as early as 1638, but its history is destitute of in- 
terest. For a century past it has recorded no event 
of political importance. Lideed, considering its 
size and position as a presidency capital, it is a con- 
spicuously inert and featureless city. 

The climate is hot, feverish, and oppressive 

during the greater part of the year, driving the 

government and wealthy residents to the hill resort 

20 



230 . THE MADRAS PRESIDENCY. 

of Ootacamund or else to Bangalore. Even in the 
coolest months the mid-day heat is intense, with 
heavy dews in the morning, but towards evening it 
moderates enough to invite a drive along the beach 
road. Added to these drawbacks, the coast is sub- 
ject to the destructive hurricanes which sweep the 
Bay of Bengal in both the summer and winter 
monsoons. 

Madras has direct railway communication with 
Bombay, and almost to the extremity of the pen- 
insula, as well as a circuitous route to Calcutta. 
Along the southern line and its branches are most 
of the great Hindu pagodas and rock temples, — 
Madura, Trichinopoly, Tanjore, Conjeveram, and 
others, — marvels of barbaric workmanship and in- 
tricate carving. 

Here the devotion to Yishnu and Siva is more 
bigoted than in the north, and to it is joined a be- 
lief in evil spirits, known as " devil worship." The 
people are of the Dravidian family, speaking the 
Tamil, Canarese, Telugu, and Malayalam languages. 
Their color is darker than that of the Aryans, or 
Indo-Europeans, but in common with that race it 
is supposed they originally came from beyond the 
Himalayas. 




o 
< 



CHAPTER XL 

CEYLON, THE PEAEL. 

Where the tints of the earth, and the hues of the sky, 
In color though varied, in beauty may vie. 
And the purple of Ocean is deepest in dye. 
****** -x- 

'Tis the clime of the East ; 'tis the land of the Sun ! 

Btron. 

Upon leaving Madras another of the stanch 
Maeulah boats carried us out to where the ship lay 
at anchor. More than the usual high sea was run- 
ning, sufficient almost to clear the exposed harbor 
of small craft. But to this there was an amusing 
exception in the form of the native catamaran, not 
yet described. 

The catamaran consists of three pieces of timber, 
bound together, the middle one being the longest 
and curved up at the fore like a prow. Upon this 
raft a solitary man paddles about, bidding defiance 
to wave and weather. K swept off by a mighty 
billow he is back again in a moment, and without 
any wet clothing to lament. Some of them, how- 

231 



232 CEYLON, THE PEARL. 

ever, do have a small item of apparel, as the fol- 
lowing incident will prove. 

Just as the steamer was about to move, one of 
these amphibious creatures hurriedly approached 
with a delayed message fi'om the company's agent. 
As he came nearer we began to wonder where he 
carried the paper, as both he and the catamaran 
were drenched at every surge. The mystery was 
soon explained. When close to the gangway he 
arose, took the letter from a strip of muslin wound 
about his head and placed it between his teeth. 
Then, unwinding this slight turban, which was 
really his dress suit, he deftly adjusted it about his 
loins and stepped on board with the confidence of 
a man properly attired. 

The sea ! the sea ! again at sea even though we 
love it not. !N"ow we headed southward, along the 
Coromandel Coast, passing the town of Pondi- 
cherry, one of the few in the peninsula which still 
acknowledge French supremacy. 

On the second day we sighted the hills of Cey- 
lon, "the resplendent," but without experiencing 
the " spicy breezes" of poetic fancy. Steaming 
around the eastern side of the island, on the third 
morning we anchored in the picturesque haven of 
Point de Galle. 



A PEARL-DROP ON THE BROW OF IND. 233 

As in all Oriental ports, the ship at once became 
the magnet for a miniature flotilla; but what curious 
boats! Imagine a double-ender thirty feet long 
and only sixteen inches wide, made of a hollowed 
trunk on the top of which boards are sewn to give 
it a depth of about a yard. Resting upon the 
water parallel with the canoe, and of nearly the 
same length, is an outrigger in the shape of a cylin- 
drical log with pointed ends. The two are con- 
nected by a pair of curved poles, stretching across 
an interval of several feet. In sailing, the side thus 
weighted is always placed to the windward. ISTo 
nails are used in the construction of these " double 
canoes," yet they are strong enough to venture out 
five leagues or more. 

Before us, across the blue water, lay a quaint 
town, set amid a luxuriant, undulating landscape 
clad with numberless palms. Grouped in the 
distance the purple hills rose against the fervid 
azure, while a wealth of sunshine and balmy win- 
ter breezes lent their share to the conviction that 
this was indeed Ceylon, — " a pearl-drop on the brow 
of Ind." 

"Well may the antiquary suspect that here is the 

Tarshish from which Solomon brought his stores 

of ivory and apes, rare woods and precious stones. 

20* 



234 CEYLON, THE PEARL. 

Once ashore, the intense heat reminded us that 
we were now only six degrees north of the equator. 
The gauziest clothing afibrded no relief in an at- 
mosphere so charged with humidity. Everybody 
was suffering from continuous perspiration, and 
yet this is the cool season. At midday the narrow 
streets were deserted, but as the sun declined the 
people came forth, in general neatly dressed. Their 
estate in life is perceptibly better than that of the 
Indian masses, and Christianity has made more 
progress among them. 

The Singalese of the coast are an effeminate race, 
having long hair twisted into a knot at the back 
and but little beard. Across the crown of the head 
they wear a semicircular comb, precisely like that 
formerly used by our young girls, its exact position 
depending upon the social grade of the individual. 
That even worldly caste should exist among the 
Singalese, who are devout Buddhists, is a perver- 
sion or a remnant of Brahminism, as the founder 
of the reformed faith expressly rejected such dis- 
tinctions. 

" Thus the World-honored spake : ' Pity and need 
Make all flesh kin. There is no caste in blood, 
Which runneth of one hue, nor caste in tears, 
Which trickle salt with all ; neither comes man 



PROMINENT ISLANDERS. 235 

To birth with tilka-mark stamped on the brow, 
Nor sacred thread on neck. "Who doth right deeds 
Is twice-born, and who doth ill deeds vile.' " 



The Tamils of Ceylon, who number about six 
hundred thousand, out of a total population of 
more than two and a half millions, are Hindus, 
like their brethren of Southern India. Another 
prominent class, though counting less than two 
hundred thousand, are the Moors. They comprise 
the shopkeepers, hawkers of curios, and dealers 
in precious stones, tortoise-shell, and ebony-ware. 
Persistent and careless of rebuffs, they haunt the 
hotels, solicit from their door-ways, and otherwise 
pester travellers. Their prices are as elastic as 
their consciences, and many of them show no hesi- 
tation in offering spurious gems. 

Ceylon is the land of the ruby and the sapphire, 
the chrysoberyl (cat's-eye) and the pearl, but only 
a connoisseur can buy them here with safety. 

The name Point de G-alle, or Punto Gallo (Cock's 
Point), is a relic of the Portuguese occupation 
(1518-1658), and after them came the Dutch (1658- 
1796), who built the ramparts yet remaining. Fol- 
lowing the English conquest, which occurred during 
a war with Holland, internal disturbances finally 



236 CEYLON, THE PEARL. 

led to tlie dethronement (1815) of tlie native King 
of Kandj, and since that event the island has be- 
longed solely to G-reat Britain. 

Late one afternoon we took a Ceylon handi/^ vir- 
tually a pony phaeton with a standing top and four 
seats, and went out to Wakwalla. The drive is 
locally noted for its beauty, which we ftilly realized. 
On both sides, the road is closely fringed with 
palms of several species, overhung ^vith flowing 
creepers and relieved at intervals by white villages. 
The soil is of a bright ruddy color, owing to the 
presence of laterite rock. A more purely tropical 
picture I have never seen. From the porch of the 
bungalow at TVakwalla, located on an eminence, 
there is a charming \dew of wooded hills and val- 
leys decked with exuberant vegetation. 

Returning homeward, we stopped at one of the 
cinnamon gardens for which the place is famous. 
The plant grows to a height of six feet or more, 
and commences to yield the spicy bark about the 
seventh year. Contrary to the supposition inspired 
by such writers as IMilton and Moore, there is no 
odor from the growing cinnamon. 

Among the most dismal of a traveller's tasks is 
to start before daylight. Yet this he must endure 
for the pri^^lege of taking Her Majesty's mail stage 



ANTIPODAL STARS. 237 

from Galle to Colombo, a distance of seventy miles. 
Or rather, from Galle to Kalutara, at wMch point 
a railway commences. Much to the discredit of 
the crown, we were kept waiting a doleful half-hour 
beyond the designated time. 

In the struggle to occupy the interim, I climbed 
the old Dutch wall, over the street from the hotel, 
bent on a lesson in astronomy. The cloudless sky 
was favorable, and I easily placed two or three 
constellations not visible at home. There was the 
Southern Cross, riding high in the heavens. Four 
brightish stars form the figure with some accuracy, 
but a superfluous fifth, located almost on a line 
between the foot and the end of the right arm, 
detracts from the efiect. If the truth be confessed, 
the Cross is rather insignificant and disappointing. 
It certainly fails to justify Dante in his sympathy 
for the peoples deprived of its radiance. 

Turning to the north, I could barely distinguish 
the Polar Star through the haze which hung close 
to the horizon. Then I thought of the elevation 
at which I had seen it from the peaks of l!Torway, 
and was fast drifting into a revery when the rat- 
tling stage emerged from the darkness. 

Her Majesty's mail was a sort of G-ermantown 
wagon, with extra places and a boot for luggage in 



238 CEYLON, THE PEARL. 

the rear. A sudden crack of the whip started the 
four ponies, but not the stage, so we had another 
delay of fifteen minutes to repair the broken har- 
ness. At last we were ofi:', dashing down the street 
and through the venerable town-gate, as if Tarn 
O'Shanter's goblins were in pursuit. 

A syce, or groom, who hung to the trap by a 
step, frequently jumped off and assisted the driver 
by lashing the little nags. The same active func- 
tionary also wound the horn, to clear the way and 
advise chance passengers in the villages of our 
coming. 

Rosy dawn, and in the tropics ! Who welcomes 
it not in every clime, unless it be an enthusiastic 
writer whom it detects still at work ? It streamed 
into the coach and painted the flowers and verdure 
by the wayside. It revealed to us the wealth of 
surrounding l^ature. The smooth, level road wind- 
ing out from palm forests to the edge of the rip- 
pling sea, and back again. 

On one side, the rocky headlands, the double 
canoes in the little harbors, the fishermen draw- 
ing their seines, and the gigantic saurian (iguana) 
crawling to its retreat. On the other, phalanx after 
phalanx of Ceylon's twenty million palms, the 
clustering cocoanuts, the nutmegs and the splendid 



A DIGNIFIED MATRON. 239 

orchids, tlie dusky peasantry, the chanting schools, 
and the rustic pahndals (triumphal arches) for some 
holy festival. 

Words utterly fail to convey the pleasure which 
a traveller gleans from such a journey. In com- 
parison with it a banquet with the costliest wines 
is stale, the grandest hall of the season flat, and 
lounging at summer resorts unprofitable. 

There was but one foreigner on the stage besides 
ourselves, and he sat at the front with the driver. 
Opposite us inside, where we had the choice seats, 
were three of the better class of Singalese, all 
cleanly arrayed in their best. iN'ot a word escaped 
from any of the trio during the whole six hours, 
but a small, matronly woman, who had the middle 
place, amused us by her bearing. 

The people of Ceylon, like those of all tropical 
Asiatic countries, constantly chew a mixture of the 
peppery betel-leaf, the areca-nut, and a trifle of 
lime, which has an exhilarating effect and stains 
their teeth almost as red as blood. ITow, our little 
woman was vigorously engaged in this soothing 
occupation, but as it has a tendency to create saliva, 
the accumulation gave her trouble. As she was 
entirely too proper to lean over the man on either 
side to make a discharge, it taxed her capacity to 



240 CEYLON, THE PEARL. 

the utmost before a relay station, where all usually- 
alighted, afforded a chance of relief. In the mean- 
while, her lips were compressed and the utmost 
dignity prevailed. 

The ponies were changed several times, in view 
of the terrific pace they are called upon to sustain. 
On two occasions they refused to start until the 
leaders' ears were nearly twisted off by rope tour- 
niquets, and all four horribly beaten. 

At Bentota, which overlooks the sea, where we 
had a late breakfast, or tiffin, they offered us the 
oysters for which the place is famous in Ceylon. 
They were diminutive, coppery, and inferior to the 
American species. In this vicinity, but some miles 
inland, is Ratnapura, the " city of gems," about 
which rubies, sapphires, and other precious stones 
are found. 

We reached Kalutara at noon, and thence went 
by train — nearly thirty miles — ^to Colombo, the 
capital and metropolis of Ceylon. 

Colombo, formerly called Kalambu, was so re- 
named by the Portuguese in honor of the discoverer 
of America. The better parts of the city are Euro- 
pean in aspect, with modifications suited to a torrid 
climate. Many of the streets show their Dutch 
origin, and some have the sidewalks elevated a 



CHARACTEmSTICS OF COLOMBO. 241 

yard or more above the roadway. The Black 
Town, chiefly peopled by Singalese and Tamils, 
has the usual detail of a native quarter. 

Considering that its population numbers over a 
hundred thousand, Colombo displays little outward 
activity. Its business thoroughfares are habitually 
quiet, and at mid-day almost deserted. The heat is 
extremely oppressive at all seasons ; not as the re- 
sult of a remarkably high temperature, but because 
of the great humidity of the atmosphere. In the 
shade the mercury seldom rises above ninety de- 
grees, while the yearly average is a trifle over 
eighty. 

Towards evening a refreshing breeze generally 
comes from the sea, when the foreign residents 
emerge from their suburban bungalows for a drive 
along the strand, known as the Galle Face, or else 
around the lake and out to the Cinnamon Gardens. 
Another favorite resort, dignified as Mount Lavinia, 
is a lone eminence, crowned by a hotel, situated 
directly on the shore, about seven miles south of 
the city. 

From the balcony of our hotel in the Fort, a 
section once enclosed by massive Dutch battle- 
ments, we had a partial view of the harbor and the 

growing breakwater. Recognizing the value and 
L g- 21 



242 CEYLON, THE PEARL. 

necessity of a more secure anchorage, the govern- 
ment has expended a large sum upon the works. 
The intention is to centralize the island's commerce 
at the capital. Both of the leading steamship com- 
panies have erected new office buildings, and since 
our visit Colombo has become the mail port, in- 
stead of Galle. 

There are no Buddhist temples of note within 
the city, and only one of the Hindu faith, which is 
conspicuous for its grotesque decoration. Here, as 
well as at Galle, travellers are tortured by dealers 
in precious stones, tortoise-shell, ebony- ware, and 
canes of the rich palm woods. The strength of 
our resolution to abstain from buying these things 
was represented by two boxes, despatched to New 
York by an American bark. 

Colombo is a centre for the preparation of cocoa- 
nut oil, coir, and coffee. Of these three prominent 
staples of Ceylon, the last is the most important. 
Fifty years ago coffee was a trifling product, but 
the amount now annually exported varies from 
thirty to forty thousand tons, valued at fifteen to 
twenty million dollars. We visited one of the 
establishments where the raw coffee is received 
from the plantations to be cured for shipment. 
Most of the hands are Tamil women. The process, 



FISHING POR PEARLS. 243 

briefly, consists of drying the beans, shelling them 
by means of rollers, winnowing, sorting the berries 
by sieves of different meshes, and finally the pack- 
ing in stout bags. 

When cholera and its attendant quarantine forced 
us to abandon the trip to Bagdad, we lost a chance 
of seeing the pearl fisheries of the Persian Gulf. 
Here again, in Geylon, we were fated to miss the 
same coveted sight. 

The location of the pearl banks is the bay of 
Condatchy, less than a hundred and fifty miles 
north of Colombo. Despite the magnitude of this 
interest, which is a State monopoly, no town of any 
extent marks the favored vicinity, and the sur- 
rounding landscape is parched, flat, and inhospita- 
ble. Yet when it is announced, after an official 
inspection, that fishing will be permitted during 
certain months, usually in the spring, the lifeless 
place becomes all animation. A numerous fleet of 
boats gathers fi^om the neighboring coasts, a multi- 
tude of natives come from the interior, and a great 
camp of palm huts is quickly constructed. 

At a given signal, that all may fare equally well, 
the exciting work begins. Hundreds of divers, 
ready with their sinking-stones, ropes, and baskets, 
instantly plunge into the sea. After a time they 



244 CEYLON, THE PEARL. 

reappear, breathless from the long immersion, with 
their baskets full of the peculiar mollusks which 
bear the precious gems. Then another set descend 
into the depths, each craft having several, and so 
on till the boats are laden. The divers are some- 
times attacked by sharks and obliged to use their 
knives in defence. 

When the oysters are landed a division is made. 
The boatmen receive either a third or a fourth as 
their share, and the government takes the remain- 
der. Those belonging to the colony are at once 
disposed of by auction, in lots of a thousand. 

The result of these sales is, of course, an assured 
revenue. But such is not the position of the buyer. 
His purchase is distinctly a speculation. There is 
no certainty that it will yield in pearls enough to 
exceed the amount of his outlay. He could bid for 
unclaimed express packages with equal doubt of 
profit. A hundred oysters may not contain a soli- 
tary pearl, and yet two or three are sometimes 
found in one shell. 

The mollusks are allowed to putrefy in the burn- 
ing sun, and are then carefully washed to extract 
the dainty jewels from the foul dross. During this 
odorous process the owner must be ever vigilant, 
or his workmen will relieve him of the choicest 



A MOUNTAIN RAILWAY. 245 

treasures. In truth, pearl-fisMng, like mining for 
diamonds or gold, is for all concerned a precarious 
occupation. 

From Colombo we went by rail to Kandy, tbe 
virtual capital of Ceylon, situated in the mountain 
region of the interior. The colonial governor 
usually resides there, as the atmosphere is drier 
and the temperature cooler than on the coast. 
Like sundry other railways, the one to Kandy, 
seventy-five miles long, is claimed to be the most 
profitable in the world. It also has the wofal dis- 
tinction of having caused the death of a coolie for 
ey^ry sleeper in its construction. The fevers of 
the jungles through which it passes are almost as 
deadly as those of the swamps along the Panama 
line. 

Once outside of Colombo, the train dashes into 
dense tropical forests and over a flat country marked 
with miniature lakes and verdant fields of paddy. 
Throughout the route prolific vegetation is strug- 
gling to recover the pathway cleared for the rails. 
Here and there a monkey swings from tree to tree, 
but to see his kind in troops we must penetrate to 
the undisturbed domain of nature. 

After the first thirty miles the road begins to 
ascend. We at once experienced a relief fi-om the 

21* 



246 CEYLON, THE PEARL. 

saturating heat, which was thankfully appreciated. 
Amid charming scenery we wound upward, around 
the slopes of steep, wooded hills, and close to the 
edge of jutting cliffs. Low down in the teeming 
glens and valleys much of the ground is cunningly 
terraced for growing rice, the falling water dripping 
from step to step over the brilliant green. 

At intervals in the exuberant foliage the eye 
singled out the stately talipot palm, with its great 
feathery flower rising grandly in the centre above 
the topmost leaves. It was our rare fortune to see 
a number of these trees in bloom. 

Once we had a glimpse of Adam's Peak (7350 
feet), the sacred mountain of Ceylon. A Buddhist 
shrine crowns its craggy summit, where an arti- 
ficial outline in the rock, five feet long, is declared 
by tlie credulous to be a human footprint. The 
Buddhists attribute it to Gautama, the Brahmins 
to Siva, and the Muslims to Adam. 

According to the myth of the local Muslims, 
Adam lived several years on this mount, apart from 
his wife, after the exile from Eden. During this 
period Eve was at Jeddah, where her lengthy tomb 
is located. Before her death she was reunited to 
Adam on Mount Arafat, near Mecca, after a sep- 
aration of one hundred and twenty years. 



COFFEE AND BREAD-FRUIT. 247 

Higher up we enter the coffee belt, passing at 
first some abandoned plantations. Attempts to 
cultivate the Arabian berry below an elevation of 
about a thousand feet, generally thus end in failure. 
A medium level, say three thousand feet, is the 
best. On the contrary, the Liberian species, of 
which, however, there is but little raised in Ceylon, 
flourishes from a height of two thousand feet down 
to the sea. The great coffee district of the island 
is around Grampola, which is reached by a branch 
line from the railway to Kandy. 

Here, also, we see splendid clumps of bamboo, 
striking ferns and orchids, and satin-wood, ebony, 
and bread-fruit trees. The last recalls the inimitable 
comic description by Dr. Holmes, in the "Autocrat 
at the Breakfast Table" : 

" The bread-fruit tree grows abundantly. Its 
branches are well known to Europe and America 
under the familiar name of macaroni. The smaller 
twigs are called iiermicelli. . . . The fruit of the 
bread-tree consists principally of hot rolls. The 
buttered muffin variety is supposed to be a hybrid 
with the cocoanut palm, the cream found in the 
milk of the cocoanut exuding from the hybrid in 
the shape of butter, just as the ripe fruit is split- 
ting." 



248 CEYLON, THE PEARL. 

When the train halted at a station, the olive- 
brown Singalese came to sell us plantains and fresh 
young cocoanuts. "With a sudden stroke of a heavy 
knife, they cut through the soft green husk and yet 
unhardened shell of the nut, to offer the cool milk 
to their customers. The natives and many for- 
eigners think it a refreshing drink, but we found it 
too sweet and cloying, and the slight, tender kernel 
was insipid. We saw little of the matured fruit, 
like that sold in America. 

The cocoa palm bears from about the seventh to 
the seventieth year of its life, after which it is felled 
and utilized for a legion of purposes. Under native 
care the annual product of a tree is from thirty to 
fifty nuts, but on plantations managed by Europeans 
the average is much higher. While the fi-uit is 
ripening, which requires twelve months, one of the 
long palm leaves is commonly tied, spear to spear, 
about the trunk. As this soon dries, it warns the 
owner by crackling if a midnight thief attempts to 
climb the tree, — not an unusual occurrence. 

It would be difficult to enumerate the many and 
varied uses of the cocoanut palm. From the juice 
of the blossom and of the fi-uit the Singalese makes 
his toddy ; the milk of the nut is his beverage ; and 
the kernel, besides the valuable oil it yields, is 



A HIGHLAND RETREAT. 249 

prominent as an article of diet. Even the refuse 
from the oil-presses serves as food for his poultry 
and cattle, and, when partly decomposed, as manure 
for the very trees from which it came. 

The husks are his fuel, the shells his vessels, and 
in the coir he finds a suitable fibre for his ropes and 
nets. The leaves provide him with dishes, a roof 
above his head, and a shelter from the sun ; while 
a slip of the bark acts as a simple bolt. After all 
this array there is still the trunk, which furnishes 
material for his house, his furniture, domestic uten- 
sils, fences, boats, and, lastly, his coffin. 

By this time we have passed Bible Rock, so 
named fi^om its likeness to a book open upon a 
cushion; and Sensation Rock, which threatens to 
hurl its beetling mass down upon the daring train. 
Soon we reach the summit of the pass ; stop a mo- 
ment at the euphonious Peradeniya, and then de- 
scend slightly to Kandy, alighting just as the sheen 
of sunset is tinting the highland capital. 

Kandy is one of the most picturesque of towns, 
nestling " among the many-folded hills," a bright 
gem in a rich setting. A long, ornate lake, partly 
natural and partly artificial, located on the edge of 
the European quarter, adds greatly to the inherent 
beauty of the picture. Here the Singalese kings 



250 CEYLON, THE PEARL. 

held their courts before the coming of the for- 
eigner, and here for centuries has stood a central 
shrine of the Buddhist faith. 

The country in the vicinity of Kandy affords 
glorious drives and walks over good roads, and 
fronting the modest hotel is a pretty open green. 
Among other places we drove to the botanical gar- 
dens of Peradeniya, three miles distant. There, in 
addition to a fine display of palms, we found some 
notable specimens of the India-rubber tree. The 
straight, branching roots, lifting their ridges six or 
eight feet above the ground, extend several yards 
in every direction. 

About a day's journey from Kandy by rail and 
coach, through the coffee district and a scenic coun- 
try, lies a beautiful sanitarium called IsTuwara Eliya. 
Its situation, close to Pedrotallagalla, the highest 
mountain of the island, having an elevation of eight 
thousand three hundred feet, gives it a moderate 
climate even in the hottest months. There ex- 
hausted Europeans retire to recuperate, often to 
avoid the necessity of a trip home. 

North of the centre of the island are the ruins 
of the two ancient capitals, Anuradhapura and 
Polonaruwa. The remains consist of Buddhist 
tanks, palaces, tombs, and temples, some of which 



THE BO-TREE AND THE ASPEN. 251 

antedate the Christian era. At the former is a 
venerable Bo-tree, reputed the oldest (b.c. 288) of 
any kind in the world. There is likewise reason to 
believe that it was raised from a branch of the sacred 
Tree of Wisdom, at Gaya, in India, under which 
Prince Siddartha, or Gautama, experienced the 
mental struggle by which he attained Buddhahood. 

In consequence of this vital element of their 
creed, which might be likened to the Forty Days' 
Temptation, Buddhists regard the Bo-tree much as 
Christians do the Cross. Hence one is planted 
close to a temple. It belongs to the Indian fig 
species, its technical name being Ficus religiosa, and 
somewhat resembles the banian. 

The leaves of this tree are hung by so slight a 
stem that the least breeze causes them to vibrate, 
which at once arrests the attention. This peculi- 
arity has duly received a mythical interpretation. 
They are said to tremble in remembrance of Gau- 
tama's conflict with the spirits of evil under their 
branches, — like those of the aspen, of which tra- 
dition has built the Cross, in token of the sacrifice 
on Calvary. 

The object of supreme interest in Kandy is the 
Temple of the Dalada, where the celebrated tooth 
of Buddha is enshrined. In contrast with Hin- 



252 CEYLON, THE PEARL. 

duism, and contrary to tlie teachings of Gautama, 
the Buddhist system, as now perverted, recognizes 
the worship of relics. Around this sanctuary — the 
Mount Athos or St. Peter's of the Southern Bud- 
dhists — ^the hierarchy has gathered, and devout pil- 
grims visit it from the most distant parts of Asia. 
Standing within its portals, we could not but think 
that more than a third of the human race piously 
envied our privilege. 

So complicated is the plan of the temple, with 
an adjoining palace, that I could scarcely make a 
description clear or entertaining. The buildings 
and the enclosing walls are of stone, and massively 
constructed. A conspicuous feature of the pile is 
a low, octagon tower, encircled by a balcony, which 
overlooks the green. This contains a revered col- 
lection of Pali manuscripts, and the Three Pitakas, 
or Buddhist scriptures, written on wood and bound 
as folios. Palm-leaves are also used, but printing 
has never been employed. 

For more than three hundred years after the 
death of Gautama his precepts were not even re- 
duced to writing. " The wise monks of former 
days," says the record, as quoted by Rhys Davids, 
" handed down by word of mouth the text of the 
Three Pitakas and the Commentary upon them; 



A BUDDHIST IDOL. 253 

seeing the destruction of men the monks of this 
time (about B.C. 80) assembled, and, that the truth 
might last long, they wrote them in books." 

Mounting a dingy flight of steps, we pass through 
a sombre hall and enter the court of the temple. 
Here, amid the clashing of drums and of gongs, 
people of both sexes are chatting or else buying 
flowers for oblations. Under the guidance of a 
priest we are first conducted into a dark chapel, 
filled with kneeling worshippers. At the far end, 
screened by a glass partition and dimly lighted with 
candles, is a golden image of Buddha, as well as 
other paraphernalia of pagan rites. 

The idol has the conventional attitude, — sitting 
with the legs crossed and the hands resting on the 
knees. On the face is that expression of peaceful, 
stainless, passive repose of one " who has conquered 
(sin) by means of holiness ; fi'om whose eyes the 
veil of error has been removed, and who, free from 
yearning, has attained Mrvana." IsTot as of a soul 
accepted in heaven, for Buddhist doctrine recog- 
nizes neither one nor the other, much less a ruling 
godhead. 

Rather a state of perfect wisdom and celestial 
calm ; a condition of personal inexistence, yet not 
of mental extinction; a relief from all that under 

22 



254 CEYLON, THE PEARL. 

the workings of Karma* would cause a perpetua- 
tion of life in some form, on the principle of trans- 
migration. " While his body shall remain he will 
be seen by gods and men, but after the termination 
of life, upon the dissolution of the body, neither 
gods nor men will see him." 

" All life is lived for him, all deaths are dead." 

After a glance at the treasures of the library, 
before mentioned, we follow our guide into the hal- 
lowed sanctuary, — a small, square building, placed 
in the centre of the court. A short staircase leads 
up to a narrow room, crowded with prostrate dev- 
otees. The air in the apartment is hot, impure, 
and saturated with the odor of a flower like the 
tuberose. 

Before us a pair of doors, inlaid with carved 
ivory, open at our approach, and we step into the 
contracted inmost chamber, the Holy of the Holies. 
Directly in fi-ont is a table loaded with the floral 
ofierings of the devout, and behind it rise the 
strong iron bars of a cage. Inside this protection, 

* This is the doctrine that, as soon as a sentient being dies, a 
new being is produced in a more or less painful and material state 
of existence, according to the "karma," the desert or merit, of 
the being who had died. — Rhys Davids' s " Buddhism." 



THE SACRED TOOTH. 255 

standing on a silver altar, is the shrine of the 
Dalada, or sacred tooth. 

The reliquary, shaped like a bell and about four 
feet in height, is made of silver gilt, set with pre- 
cious stones and decked with chains. "Within this 
are five more cases, one beneath the other, of sim- 
ilar design. Upon removing the last the venerated 
object is exposed, resting upon a golden lotus. 

The pretended history of the relic declares it to 
be the left eye-tooth of Buddha, which was taken 
from the ashes of his faneral pile (b.c. 543), at 
Kusinara. After being kept at Dantapura, in 
Southern India, for above seven hundred years, it 
was brought to Ceylon for better security, in the 
fourth century of our era. Later it was carried back 
to India by the invading Malabars ; but Prakrama 
the Great (1153-1186) recovered it by force of arms. 
During the Portuguese occupation (1560) the Cath- 
olic missionaries removed it to Goa, south of Bom- 
bay, the centre of Portugal's Indian possession. 
There, after declining all ofiers of ransom, they 
ground the tooth to powder, every particle of 
which was carefully destroyed. 

The record of this curious act is detailed and 
authentic. Yet the wily priests of Kandy, as soon 
as prudence would permit, announced that it was 



256 CEYLON, THE PEARL. 

only a counterfeit whicli had tlius suifered destruc- 
tion. The genuine relic, as the Buddhists relate, 
was then produced and borne to the temple with 
great ceremony and rejoicing. 

When the British came as conquerors, they took 
possession of the precious object for political effect. 
Besought by the devout Singalese, they gracefully 
restored it as an evidence of friendship and mutual 
confidence. 

But a most extraordinary fact in connection with 
this momentous trifle remains to be stated; a reality 
so perplexing in its application to the eventful story 
that it forms a strange and fitting climax. In a 
word, the supposed tooth of Buddha never be- 
longed in a human mouth. It measures two inches 
in length, and has the appearance of ordinary ivory. 
And yet before this spurious relic nearly five hun- 
dred millions of people are ready to prostrate them- 
selves in profound adoration. 



CHAPTER XII. 

EAKE EXPEEIENCES. 

Happy is he who lives to understand 
Not human nature only, but explores 
All natures, to the end that he may find 
The law that governs each. 

WORDSWOKTH. 

"When we entered Kandy tlie town bore evidences 
of an approaching event. The streets and houses 
were decorated with flags and lanterns, and mottoes 
on transparencies extended a loyal welcome to 
princely guests. Around the public green deft 
hands were erecting an ornamental railing of bam- 
boo and palm, with half a cocoanut upon each post 
to hold oil and wick for an illumination. 

Upon inquiry we learned that Princes Albert 
Victor and George of Wales, then making a tour 
of the world as midshipmen on H. M. S. "Bac- 
chante," were expected at Colombo on the follow- 
ing day. After a brief stay in that city they were 
coming to Kandy, to witness a representation of 
the great Buddhist feast of the Perahara. 

r 22* 257 



258 RARE EXPERIENCES. 

Three days passed very pleasantly before tlie 
Princes came one afternoon by special train. When 
the booming of cannon announced their arrival, all 
was excitement and bustle. Both Europeans and 
natives gave them a hearty reception, as they drove 
from the station and through the town, l^ot far 
from the Government House a crowd of boisterous 
coffee-planters dashed at the equipage, detached the 
horses, and dragged the carriage to its destination, 
much to the astonishment of the occupants. 
Throughout this adventure, and during their entire 
stay, the bearing of the two young guests was 
modest and dignified. 

That evening witnessed the Perahara, which 
proved the most weird and striking of all the spec- 
tacles of the East. This festival, which signifies 
"the procession," is the greatest in the ca]endar 
of the Ceylonese Buddhists, and is given in homage 
to the Dalada, or sacred tooth. It occurs yearly, 
and properly in July, culminating at fall moon with 
the pageant by which it is chiefly known. 

After the parade certain priests perform the rite 
of cutting the waters of the Mahawilla Ganga, the 
principal river of the island. Embarking in orna- 
mental canoes they await the coming of dawn, and 
at that moment describe a circle in the stream with 



A GREAT FESTIVAL. 259 

golden swords, and from within the imaginary 
space thus sanctified they fill vessels and bear the 
water to the temple. 

At rare intervals a special representation of the 
Perahara is given, without regard to season, in 
honor of an exalted visitor, as in the case of the 
Prince of Wales (1875). The coming of his two 
sons was now made the occasion for a similar repe- 
tition in the winter months. Since the final depo- 
sition of the Kandyan kings the regular celebration 
has lost much of its earlier pomp and state, owing 
to the lack of the sacred presence of the monarch. 
But in this instance extensive preparations had been 
perfected to restore the ceremonial and splendor 
which formerly marked the Perahara. 

Head-men and officials of the colony had been 
exerting themselves to the utmost for several days. 
A number of enormous elephants, some from dis- 
tant points, were in readiness, together with their 
gorgeous paraphernalia and followers. IlTatives of 
distinction, in their robes of office, and devil-dancers 
from neighboring temples, all in strange costumes, 
were gathered with Buddhist priests, torch-bearers, 
stilt-walkers, tom-tom beaters, fifers, and men 
dressed in imitation of huge birds. 

At the hotel a strong delegation of coffee-planters 



260 EARE EXPERIENCES, 

took complete possession, and enjoyed themselves 
in the roughest, noisiest manner. Although extra 
tahles were provided for the rush, they occupied 
every seat and turned the dinner into a wild orgie. 
They drank deeply, shouted, thi*ew things about, 
and wrenched the food from the hands of ser- 
vants. If a waiter approached with a roast pig, it 
was taken from him in an instant and torn to pieces 
by savage hands. 

Toward the close of the revel the floor and tables 
presented the appearance of a sty, and maudlin acts 
and language were rampant. Dishes and glass were 
crashed, with empty bottles as a hammer, chairs 
overturned, and the pantry and bar invaded. At 
the end, when the national air was sung, many 
stood on the chairs and stamped time with a foot 
on the wreck of the feast, until one long table was 
crushed to the reeking floor. 

All night through ribald profanity ruled the 
house, and sleep was impossible. Happily, no- 
where, before nor since, have we seen another 
assemblage of Englishmen so disgrace the Queen 
and their country. 

After nightfall the town was gayly illuminated 
and thousands crowded the streets. The cumbrous 
procession slowly formed in the open space fronting 



A WEIRD PROCESSION. 261 

the temple, amid much confusion and chattering. 
When the line was at length in order, a gun was 
fired as the signal to start. Instantly there arose a 
deafening clangor of bells, cymbals, reeds, tom- 
toms, and voices. 

First came a band of these supposed musicians, 
and after them three monster elephants, the middle 
one a noble tusker. All were gaudily caparisoned, 
but the one was specially honored by bearing the 
miniature temple which contains the sacred tooth, 
when the Perahara is legitimately celebrated. 

A group of devil-dancers followed, all clad so 
fantastically as to baffle description. Some wore 
short skirts of bright colors, like ballet-girls, with 
a profusion of jingling trinkets ; and others, suits 
covered with shrill bells or small dangling plates 
of , silver. Thus prepared for noise, they flung 
themselves into every conceivable posture, turning 
somersaults, performing pirouettes and acrobatic 
feats, gyrating, dancing, and vaulting. 

This peculiar function was executed with tireless 
and frantic zeal, as if each performer must outdo 
his fellows. In the popular worship these devil- 
priests are believed to have power, through their 
dancing and incantations, to exorcise demons, in 
case of illness or a threatened calamity. 



262 RARE EXPERIENCES. 

After the devil-dancers marched a body of head- 
men, or native chiefs, whose costumes attracted 
every eye. The body of the dress was of scarlet, 
white, and gold, puffed out far beyond the natural 
size and decorated with chains, medals, and dag- 
gers. Hose of colored silk, curious shoes, and a 
four-cornered hat of unexampled model, completed 
the figure. Among them were men with snowy 
beards, and one was so aged as to require assist- 
ance in walking. 

IText came more elephants, the howdahs filled 
with natives carrying lofty fans, golden umbrellas, 
and characteristic standards. Other participants on 
foot likewise bore these emblems, as well as blazing 
torches and brilliant shields. Then, perhaps, among 
these gaudy trappings, appeared the simple yellow 
robe of G-autama's order of monks. Or the comical 
stilt-walkers and the tall, grotesque imitations of 
birds and human beings, made of bamboo and 
painted canvas. 

So the memorable procession repeated itself, over 
and over again, until I had counted thirty-six ele- 
phants, and found it had been forty minutes in pass- 
ing. Toward the conclusion a drizzling rain fell, 
which extinguished the failing cocoanut-oil lights, 
and by midnight effectually scattered the spectators. 



PKEPARING FOR THE HUNT. 263 

The pandemonium in the hotel, before and after 
the Perahara, made us long for morning, when we 
took the first train back to Colombo. There we at 
once prepared to leave the same evening for the 
scene of the greatest adventure which our tour of 
the world developed. 

While at Kandy we heard that a grand elephant- 
hunt had been projected for the young Princes, to 
take place immediately after the Perahara. In our 
desire to partake of so rare an experience, we com- 
municated with the American Consul at Colombo, 
asking if horses or a conveyance could be procured 
to take us to the appointed spot, thirty miles in the 
interior of the island. 

The result was that we engaged him personally, 
at a round price, to drive us there and back in his 
own private carriage. Much to our discomfort, at 
the last moment he found himself unable to pro- 
vide more than one horse, which forced us to go in 
a small, open trap. 

During the afternoon a heavy wagon was sent 
ahead with the camping equipment and a servant to 
prepare the palm huts, previously ordered for our 
party. At sundown we followed, burdened with 
little more than the hammocks for use that night. 
In addition to the driver and ourselves, a syce clung 



264 KARB EXPERIENCES. 

to a step on the rear axle, to act as groom and whip. 
As we cleared the town the sun dipped below the 
horizon, lighting the sky with a splendor which 
invoked a glad hosanna, best given voice by Metas- 

tasio : 

" I see Thee in Thy works, 

I meet Thee in my heart. " 

Our way led almost directly eastward, never far 
from the course of the Kalany Ganga, the stream 
which empties at Colombo. In many places the 
road was heavy from the recent rains, making our 
progress very slow, and in climbing hills charity 
for the poor horse required us to walk. 

Fortunately, my place was on the back seat, so 
that I was relieved of much of the burden of con- 
versation. Fatigue and loss of sleep had made me 
so drowsy, that several times I was in danger of 
dropping out of the trap. Twice my helmet fell in 
the mud, after a narrow escape of this kind. 
During a stage journey of forty-eight hours, coming 
from the Yellowstone Park to the railroad, I once 
lost two hats in the same manner. 

Soon after midnight we halted at a wayside bun- 
galow, to refresh ourselves and feed the horse. 
Here the compound was crowded with cattle and 
wagons, all bound in our direction. After fortify- 



GOING TO THE CAMP. 265 

ing ourselves with strong tea, in tlie hope of keep- 
ing awake, we again took the road. But it was a 
cheerless drive, too dark to see anything. 

In the small hours we passed a habitation, but 
our conductor thought it better to press on to a 
known rest-house at Hanwella. When we eventu- 
ally arrived there, it was only to find it closed. 
Another hour or more brought us upon a great 
congregation of vehicles and cattle, the point where 
the road ended. 

Thence to the camp, one had either to be mounted 
or go afoot. But we had no idea of proceeding any 
farther at that moment. So we slung the ham- 
mocks in an open shed, and enjoyed the sleep of 
the tired. 

Early in the morning, after a cup of tea, we be- 
gan the walk through the jungle, as no horses had 
been provided for the purpose. However, as there 
were coolies to carry all encumbrances, the tramp 
through luxuriant tropical foliage, beside running 
brooks, was not without its attractions. The draw- 
backs were the slippery mud and the troublesome 
leeches which infest the undergrowth of Ceylon. 
To guard against these parasites it is necessary to 
wear top-boots, or else wrap the trousers closely 
around the ankles down to the shoes. 

M 23 



266 RARE EXPERIENCES. 

Upon arriving at Kraaltown, for so the camp was 
called, we were at once installed in our quarters. 
The huts formed part of one of several rows, erected 
in conjunction with a dining-room as an improvised 
hotel. All were built of branches, thatched with 
palm leaves, and inside there was nothing except a 
bench of the same material extending around the 
wall, for sitting and sleeping. Other requisite fur- 
niture had been provided in our outfit. 

Here, on the bank of a stream, directly in the 
damp, unhealthy jungle, we remained three days, 
but happily without injurious results, probably 
owing to the use of quinine as a prophylactic. The 
motionless, heated air was replete with moisture, 
and at short intervals heavy showers made every- 
thing wet and uncomfortable. Walking was a 
plague, on account of the mud, leeches, and sultri- 
ness, and at night we slept under open umbrellas, 
as rain freely came through the light thatch. 

On a hill, a short distance from our quarters, 
neat cottages of palm-wood had been prepared for 
the Princes, the governor of the island, and the 
admiral of the fleet. These were furnished and 
curtained in the cosiest manner, including even the 
luxury of cots. The remainder of the camp, which 
was planned with some regularity, consisted of huts 



BUILDING THE KRAAL. 267 

like our own, many detached and others in rows. 
On the outskirts were the sutlers' hooths, and that 
institution which alone advances with perfect se- 
curity to the extreme frontiers of civilization— the 
har. 

The ground chosen for the exciting sport was a 
narrow valley close to the Labugama water-works, 
by which Colombo — thirty miles distant — is to be 
supplied. A locality known to be frequented by 
elephants is selected ; one where the needfal water, 
shade, and forage are present. 

In such a spot the kraal had been erected by the 
natives, under the direction of their chiefs. This 
popular term is a heritage from the Dutch occupa- 
tion, and corresponds to our word corral. As the 
cut shows, it formed an irregular figure, but not 
unlike a square with one corner truncated. The 
matter of outline, however, is governed somewhat 
by the topography of the site. It may describe a 
rectangle or a triangle, but must always have the 
added funnel, marked " Fence," to lead the herd 
to the entrance. Care must also be taken not to 
destroy the foliage about the approach to the trap, 
as the elephant has a keen instinct of danger. 

The enclosure is constructed of the trunks of 
trees, nearly a foot in diameter and firmly set in the 



268 



RARE EXPERIENCES. 



ground, crossed with rails of lesser thickness, and 
usually braced from the outside with forked tim- 
bers. In place of western modes of joining, the 



-EJ 



Fence. 



Entrance, 



D' 



PLAN OF THE KRAAL. 



parts are lashed with rattan and other stout tendrils, 
known as jungle ropes. 

The whole covered a space of some three acres, 
and had a height of about ten feet. Adjoining the 
lo-aal were stands for the distinguished guests and 



BEATING THE JUNGLE. 269 

visitors from all parts of the island, to view the 
operation of fettering the captives. 

Despite its strength, such a barrier would be 
fatile were an enraged elephant allowed to attack 
it with all his power. This contingency is gener- 
ally prevented by stratagem ; but at times it occurs, 
when the escape of the herd is probable. The de- 
vices employed to ward off a charge are of the 
simplest character, never implying force, but always 
depending upon man's craft and daring, and the 
timorous nature of the giant brute. 

After the kraal had been completed, nearly three 
thousand natives were engaged for several weeks 
in securing the game. A large section of country 
was surrounded, and the cordon slowly contracted 
until about twenty elephants, comprising two dis- 
tinct herds, were brought within surveillance. One 
chief declared that he had driven his herd eighty 
miles. 

In pursuing this work of patience, tact, and hard- 
ship, the beaters are cautious not to alarm the ele- 
phants, but to allow them, as much as possible, to 
pursue their usual, peaceful habits in the jungle, at 
the same time advancing them, step by step, day 
and night, in the direction of the stockade. 

When the circle has been so reduced as to excite 

23* 



270 RARE EXPERIENCES. 

their mistrust, or the danger of a stampede, fires 
are built at close intervals around the line, and the 
watchers flash torches, brandish light spears, or 
sound a cry known to be hideous to the elephantine 
ear, "Harri-harri-hooi-ooi!" 

Such were the extensive preparations when, one 
afternoon, the heir presumptive of the British Em- 
pire and his brother rode into KJraaltown, attended 
by ofiicials, coifee-planters, and knots of dark-hued 
natives. Close by the corral were twenty mon- 
archs of the forest, summoned to entertain the 
sea princes by yielding their liberty with struggles 
befitting a mighty race. And here were we from 
an antipodal home, like " marks of interrogation 
wandering up and down the world," waiting in the 
jungles of Ceylon to acquire new experiences by 
studying exotic natures. Can any philosophy lower 
than Fontenelle's account for so unwonted a group- 
ing, in a more unwonted spot? "La veritable 
philosophic s'eleve jusqu'^ devenir une espece de 
theologie." 

Sunset was upon the camp before the stir caused 
by the arrival of the Princes had subsided, and then 
word came that the " drive-in" would not be at- 
tempted until the following morning. After dinner 
some veterans of Indian life amused us for an hour 



A NIGHT ALARM. 271 

or more with stories of elephants, tigers, leopards, 
and snakes, before we retired to the rude couches 
to dream of encounters with savage creatures. But 
it was not all a dream. 

Shortly before daylight, when the prattling Sin- 
galese outside made it impossible to sleep, there fell 
upon our ears the most appalling cry of terror that 
a human being could utter. In an instant we were 
upon our feet. Its piercing tone of despair roused 
the occupants of every hut, and a moment later the 
ominous word " cobra" flew from tongue to tongue. 
Men clad in pajamas and slippers, followed by ex- 
cited natives, dashed to the rescue, — to find that a 
partition of light palm leaves had fallen on the 
slumbering victim of fright. The incident was 
serious enough, however, to prove the animated 
respect which " old Indians" have for the imperious 
serpent. 

After this adventure we had the early tea and 
prepared for the bugle-call, the signal that the great 
spectacle of the day was about to commence. 
Morning passed, but without the expected sum- 
mons. To occupy the time and learn the cause of 
the delay, we walked over the hills to the rear of 
the kraal, only to hear that the beaters were having 
difficulty in bringing the game to the entrance. 



272 BARE EXPERIENCES. 

Here were stationed tlie large, tame elephants 
selected to assist in noosing their wild brethren. 
One of the number, an enormous tusker, equipped 
with chains and ropes, stood the ideal of strength 
and docility. Encouraged by his driver we fed 
him with sweet stalks, which were taken with the 
utmost grace, and in return he gently lifted us high 
into the air upon his tusks, using his trunk with 
almost human care to guard us against a fall. 

The trained elephant is associated in the Occident 
wdth amusement only, but throughout the East 
Indies he serves various purposes of utility. In 
addition to his offices in war and pageantry, of 
which we have already had glimpses, he is valuable 
in constructing roads, moving heavy stones, uproot- 
ing small trees, clearing a jungle, hauling weighty 
loads, and piling timber. 

Most observers agree that his power and sagacity 
are best displayed in the task of handling lumber. 
At the command of his mahout, emphasized by the 
prick of an iron goad, he will select a log among 
many, — weighing half a ton or more, — lift it upon 
his tusks, carry it to the required place, and return 
for another. Two working in conjunction will rear 
a pile with the greatest accuracy, arranging the logs 
in rows crossing each other at right angles. 



A STIRRING CONTEST. 273 

As long as silence governed the plan of strategy, 
visitors were enjoined from going towards the front 
of the kraal ; and this prohibition, added to the 
long delay, caused much outspoken impatience; 
but when, suddenly, a distant storm of cries and 
shrill noises announced that the " drive in" was 
imminent, and the need of concealment past, we 
hurried forward to an elevated position overlooking 
the entrance. 

The hunted elephants, terrified by the uproar, 
bolted headlong to the open gate, halted there for 
a moment undecided, and then, suspecting the trap, 
turned again on their pursuers. An army of natives, 
reinforced by many European volunteers, retired 
without ceremony, but only a few rods ; and then 
promptly reformed their lines. Advancing again, 
the beaters boldly pricked the infariated, trumpet- 
ing monsters with the light wands they carried, at 
the same time wildly gesticulating and shouting 
" harri-harri." But the herd stood in close order, 
refusing to move forward. 

A long and stirring contest now ensued, much 
of which was hidden from us by the tall jungle. 
Even when the combatants were invisible, the posi- 
tion of the elephants was indicated by the cracking 
bamboos, waving trees, stentorian growls, and 



274 RARE EXPERIENCES. 

sometimes an uplifted trunk. Under the leader- 
ship of a savage cow, bent upon protecting the calf 
at her side, they repeatedly charged the cordon, 
only to be driven back by harmless screams and 
toy spears. Finally, a native ventured too near the 
desperate mother, and in an instant she caught him 
with her trunk and crushed out his life with a 
mammoth foot. 

It was now decided that the leader must be dis- 
abled, to curb her fury. After a short truce — until 
a rifle was brought — ^the gallant brute fell, wounded 
near the ear ; and while her blood poured out in a 
great stream, the little calf ran about the prostrate 
form in appealing distress. The cow lay perhaps 
five minutes ; then unexpectedly rose, gathered the 
herd about her, and led them with a rush through 
the funnel and into the enclosure. I saw every one 
of them pass the fence, — seven wild elephants ; and 
in the flush of that moment I had scored a rare 
experience. In an instant watchers sprang forward 
and barred the entrance. At last the captives were 
" kraaled." 

The instinct that two herds of elephants never 
mingle, was dominant even during the critical strug- 
gle ; the larger body, yet outside, having succeeded 
in maintaining separate ground, and so, for a time, 



IN THE TRAP. 275 

escaped capture. Hence the lines were continued 
with unabated vigilance around the herd still in 
the jungle, until the gate could be safely opened 
for another drive. 

Contrary to all precedent, steps were immediately 
taken for "tying up" that afternoon. Usually a 
night is allowed to intervene, as the prisoners spend 
their rage and exhaust themselves in the interval 
by vain assaults upon the stockade, tearing through 
the heavy undergrowth, and bellowing in alarm and 
bewilderment. By morning they stand together, 
silent and subdued, and as far from their tormenters 
as possible. 

This premature movement, undertaken against 
the advice of the chiefs, was ordered for the reason 
that the Princes were timed to leave that evening. 
Unwisely, only two days had been allotted in the 
reception programme for the kraal, and so the 
royal guests were hurried away to E^uwara Eliya 
for an elk-hunt, which proved a failure. Many 
visitors, however, remained until the end, including 
the admiral and some of his lieutenants. 

Briefly, the too hasty attempt at noosing, exe- 
cuted in a deluge of rain, was unsuccessfal ; this, 
be it noted, in defiance of the herculean efforts of 
three tame elephants to butt and belabor the wild 



276 RARE EXPERIENCES. 

ones into subjection. As the wounded cow still 
gave battle, she was reluctantly killed during this 
fray, and the marksman proudly bore off the tail 
as his trophy. 

Let us pass over the detail of how the corral was 
forced that night and the captives escaped. Also 
of how they were soon retaken, along with six from 
the other herd. In a word, when the " tying up" 
began in earnest there were twelve unfortunates in 
the toils. 

The victims were engaged in cooling each other 
with mud and water when the bars of the small 
rear entrance were removed and four tame elephants 
entered, each mounted by two or three noosers, and 
followed by assistants with spears and ropes. In a 
trice the herd took fright and charged the palisade, 
only to retreat before the puny wands and loud 
whoops of the guards. Despairing of escape, they 
dashed to and fro, round and round, to avoid con- 
tact mth the approaching foes. Thus pressed with- 
out respite, they sometimes evinced a disposition to 
be warlike, which was effectually checked by a few 
blows or thumps from the tame animals. In these 
encounters the exposed riders were unnoticed and 
unharmed, but the men on foot were cautious to 
evade attack. 



FETTERED AND STRUGaLING. 277 

After long mancBuvring the trained elephants 
managed to separate a large cow fi'om the herd, 
and so ranged themselves about her that she was 
forced to stand. This was the opportunity wanted, 
and in a flash an agile native slipped under one of 
the Mendly brutes, rope in hand. "Waiting until 
the restless prisoner lifted her hind foot, he deftly 
placed the noose about her leg and withdrew. 
Another venture fettered the second limb, the de- 
coys meanwhile warding oif with their trunks sev- 
eral wrathfal strokes aimed at the man. 

The ropes were now firmly secured to a stout 

tree, and the captive left entirely alone, save her 

calf. Then began a titanic struggle for liberty, 

that no few words can justly portray. Finding 

herself baffled in untying the many knots, or in 

uprooting the tree, she writhed, screamed, tore at 

the foliage, pawed the earth, tossed clouds of dust 

over her back, flung her trunk about fiercely, and 

planted her head upon the ground for leverage to 

rend asunder the bonds. At length she fell, in 

exhaustion, anguish, and despair, and lay motionless 

and resigned. The natives well knew that these 

symptoms forebode the loss of their prize. She 

panted for an hour or more, sighed deeply, and 

died — of " broken heart." 

24 



278 RARE EXPERIENCES. 

A male somewhat above medium size was next 
submitted to the exciting ordeal, with minor varia- 
tions. While he stood jammed between two of 
the tame elephants, away from any tree, the nooser 
induced him to raise his hind foot by touching it 
gently, drew the running knot about his leg, and 
retreated. In this case the rope was attached to 
the girth of one of the trained animals, and the 
sagacious brute, knowing exactly what was expected 
of him, began to drag the captive towards a tree 
facing the spectators' stands. The wild one resisted 
violently, but without avail, as the tame allies 
steadily pushed, butted, and pulled him across the 
enclosure. When the tying was complete his con- 
tortions to free himself were astonishing, though 
in the end he calmed down, hopeless and covered 
with soil. 

While these operations were in progress the two 
orphan calves became troublesome, — wailing, charg- 
ing to and fro, chasing the noosers, and running 
under the grown elephants. As the element of 
danger was absent, the binding of these little ones 
was merry work. In addition to securing one leg, 
a noose was passed round their necks. They bel- 
lowed, threw off the ropes, rapped their assailants, 
and displayed the most comical exasperation. 



CONCLUDING SCENES. 279 

Elephants with tusks are comparatively rare in 
Ceylon, but there was a huge one in the kraal, fifty 
or sixty years of age, — too old to be trained. Con- 
trary to rule, he was the most cowardly of the herd, 
persistently declining to fight and always eluding 
his pursuers. The nat?. os were indisposed seriously 
to attempt his capture, and even the tame beasts 
preferred to leave him undisturbed. 

The process of training commences by giving the 
captive a small quantity of food, which is increased 
fi^om day to day. At the expiration of a week or 
two, according to the individual temper, he is 
chained between tame elephants and led away to 
bathe. If patience and kindness be exercised, in 
two months his driver can ride him unattended, 
and in another similar period he is prepared for 
labor. 

The work of " tying up" continued a second day, 
but few strangers cared to remain. At the conclu- 
sion the prizes were sold by auction, realizing from 
sixty rupees for a calf to three hundred and fifty 
rupees for the largest. The tusker and one or two 
others were ultimately allowed to break through 
the palisade and return to the jungle. 

But previous to these concluding scenes we had 
retraced our steps to Colombo and Point de Galle, 



280 RARE EXPERIENCES. 

thence to sail eastward, ever eastward, diverging to 
tlie north and to the south, yet still eastward, until, 
guided by Him who rules the seas, we came to the 
golden West, — the shores of the country to us so 
precious. And here we close our chapter from 
" the open volume of the world, upon which," in 
the words of Lowell, " with a pen of sunshine or 
destroying fire, the inspired Present is even now 
writing the annals of Grod !" 



THE END. 



'5A 



^ ^^'H^.''^ 



'^- 



A^^' 






.0 0, ' - 



^1 ; 






. s ^ ^'^> 






aX^' -._ 
















.1 N-O ^ A- 



,x^ ^'- 














.x^^- '^> 



















'S .>y '""-. '- 





C.S rS--. -■ 



,s^^• ->?, 



aX> ■^',- 






V-- A" 






.^^^^. 













■<i/ 



X^ 






o5 ^rL 






O^^ 



k^ -^ ^^"^ ^Srf^^ 



-% 



V ■^' 







.-l\^ 



z V V 













o. * 



13 t 






^^ ,#' 



A 



■^■' ■- 



Xr>,^^' ^' 



















■o- 



0^ 

,1^ TO 















^■^^ ^^''''. '"- 



0^ 






V' ^ ^ "^ . 



^4 '- %. ,^,# J^'^^A^^/h,'': 







.^if^^^T ,^^ -;^^ -,\ 









'% v^ 






